Book Review: Disney Pixar Finding Nemo Manga - Special Collector's Edition

Book: Disney Pixar Finding Nemo Manga - Special Collector's Edition written and illustrated by Ryuichi Hoshino

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Manga publishing pioneer TOKYOPOP is back ... bringing readers "Finding Nemo," a retelling of the film in manga style, just in time for the long-awaited sequel, "Finding Dory". Hardcover collectible with exclusive bonus features, manga illustrations, Pixar sketches and an original cover! Based on the beloved Disney-Pixar classic, this manga follows Marlin, a clown fish, who is highly overprotective of his son, Nemo. When Nemo gets caught by a diver and ends up in a dentist's fish tank, Marlin stops at nothing to find him and gets a little help along the way from a blue tang named Dory.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This is a pretty good adaptation of Finding Nemo, reading this felt like the author was able to capture all the emotions and the action and adventure from the movie.

After a terrible tragedy took the life of his wife and all except one of his children, Marlin promised to never let any harm come to his only child Nemo. On what should have been an exciting first day of school for Nemo, his father's overprotectiveness made Nemo so upset he swam off in anger. Swimming too close to a boat allowed Nemo to be captured by a diver.

Marlin went after the boat but it was too fast and it got away but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to get Nemo back. Along for the journey was a fish named Dory. She had a problem with her short term memory making it hard for her to remember just about everything.

Marlin and Dory had an amazinge adventure dodging not so reformed vegetarian sharks, evading an anglerfish, jellyfish and riding with turtles. Meanwhile, Nemo was stuck in a aquarium at a dentist's office but he wasn't alone there were other fish and sea creatures in the tank. They were going to help Nemo escape before he becomes another casualty of the dentist's niece Darla who although adorable is a little terror especially to fish. 

Can father and son reunite? Even if you have seen the movie, this story still has you wondering just that. This has all the energy of the movie and since this is geared towards kids it does includes a reference guide to the characters in the movie before the story begins.

This manga version of Finding Nemo is a delightful read that will have you rooting for the characters.

Book Review for A-Z Title Challenge: Ultra Maniac vol #4

Book: Ultra Maniac volume #4 (chapters #16-20) by Wataru Yoshizumi

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I really like this series because it's full of humor, magic and mishaps with Nina's magic never going right. And in this volume not only does she and Ayu and the rest of their friends finally find out who was behind the threatening letters that had been sent to Nina, they were soon under attack.

They were shocked to find out who was behind everything especially since Sayaka had shown no signs of being a witch. Her big secret wasn't the only thing that Sayaka revealed, she told them why she didn't like Nina and why she despised all of them. Also in this volume, she had been trying to stir up trouble between Ayu and her boyfriend Tetsushi.

They were all able to sort everything out with her but things were still awkward the next day at school. Was Sayaka really sorry about everything she did or does she still have another plan she's working on?

Meanwhile, romance and friendship drama between Nina and Hiroki has them trying to figure out how they feel about each other. And just as Nina starts to wonder about her feelings, it seems that Sayaka is still up something this time in regards to Hiroki.

I can't wait to read the last volume because someone is watching Nina and they might be there to take her back to the Magical Kingdome. So it will be interesting to see who that person really is and why he's there.

Book Review for A-Z Title Challenge: QQ Sweeper vol #1

Book: QQ Sweeper volume #1 (chapters #1-5) by Kyousuke Motomi

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Review:

Who knew cleaning was more than just for keeping your home tidy?

The first volume focused on new transfer student Fumi Nishioka. When she was found sleeping in the old part of campus (which was said to be haunted) she ended up meeting Kyutarou Horikita, a fellow classmate. Kyutarou isn't just a regular student he's part of a secret cleaning organization that help keep away ghostly parasites.

But there is something mysterious about Fumi because she was able to see a hidden door that allowed her to help another classmate Sakaguchi who was in need of help. However, as she traveled through the door she found herself somewhere she never thought possible, a supernatural portal that allowed her to see inside the heart of Sakaguchi. He was being tormented by a parasite. She was surprised when Kyutarou showed up, he had went there to help her but surprisingly she had to help him out. 

With that task taken care of, Fumi in need of both a job and a place to stay was offered not only a job as a housekeeper for the Horkita family but also to be Kyutarou's assistant for the cleaning organization.

There was still more work the duo had to do for Sakaguchi, they removed the parasites that were infecting him but they also needed to clean his room. Sakaguchi's problems stemmed from him being cut from the baseball team, which made it easier for the parasites to attack.

The first volume ends with a cliffhanger with the Chairman of the school possibly looking into Fumi's background to find out more about her.

This was a fun and interesting story with Fumi finding more than she bargained for when she met Kyutarou. She's also a little kooky because her goal in life is to marry a rich man but I'm hoping as the story continues she finds another goal.

Book Review: Give to the Heart vol #1

Book: Give to the Heart volume #1 by Wann

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Publisher: NETCOMICS

Description:

NetGalley Description:

The most fantastic journey is growing up Eleven-year-old Pepe's world turns inside-out when he finds himself pulled inside the walls of his own home, seemingly trapped in a strange and surreal place. As he searches for a way out, he discovers a myriad of strange, intriguing, and frightening characters, who ultimately lead him to complete the greatest journey of them all: growing up.

A fantastical trip through a strange landscape that explores the changing perspective of a young boy facing adulthood. As surreal as Alice in Wonderland, with a powerful truth underneath it all. This beautifully illustrated, watercolored tale will make readers long for the simplicity of youth while embracing the wonderful complexities of adulthood: RESPONSIBILITY, LOVE, CONSEQUENCE, and ultimately the shocking, inevitable realities of LIFE and DEATH. 


Goodreads.com Description:

In the far-off distant future, the Earth suffers a cataclysm that destroys modern civilization. Over centuries, human survivors regroup and organize into primitive cities. Three godlike beings arise and oversee the well-being of the world. Lord Ganok rules all waters. Nations prosper - or starve - on his whim. He nourishes farmlands with rainfall or blights entire realms with drought. He can unleash violent storms that level entire cities. Yet, despite all his awe-inspiring abilities, the Water King can't win the heart of a simple human woman named Sooyi. Lord Ganok quickly learns that the human heart contains more intense storms than he could ever hope to create. Furthermore, Sooyi seeks out a power of her own in order to fulfill an old vendetta...the power to slay the Water King once and for all!


Rating: 1 star (Did Not Finish)

Review:

The reason I wanted to read this book was for the first description. However, that description has absolutely nothing to do with this book, it's the second one.

The story follows Sooyi who was on her way to The Dead City to kill the Water King but on her way she rescued Niroo a guy who was caught with illegal contraband. So how does he thank her, by trying to rape her but she was able to get away. Yeah, but a few short panels later they were both running from the guards and she was written as if nothing bad happened between them.

They were saved from the guards by a mysterious man who turned out to be the Water King but also Sooyi's husband. He grabbed her and swiftly flew her away despite her protests and then when they landed at a temporary base, he proceeded to sexually assault her but didn't go through it. With no plans at the moment to deal with her, he then tossed her into a room and locked the door.

I absolutely refused to read anymore of this. I also skimmed through the second volume and it also contains too many of these types of scenes. So that was it for me with this series.

Book Review for A-Z Title Challenge: Purikyu

Book: Purikya by Kyousuke Motomi

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This five chapter book begins with 16 year old former ballerina Anna Katsuragi joining the archery club at school after being tricked by her friend. She also ran into an old childhood rival Jinnai Takeru who didn't think Anna was up to the task. Jinnai is the President of the club but he is also known as the Blue Demon since he is so mean to everyone.

Anna's first day of practice didn't go well and after being humiliated by Jinnai she thought of giving up. However, she found the strength and motivation to return the next day but she was now even more determined to prove that she can be good at archery.

The second chapter finds the archery club attending camp for a week and with Anna getting additional training albeit harsh from Jinnai since she was so far behind all the other club members. The club is also preparing for an upcoming contest where only the best five can compete. But that's not going to stop Anna from trying.

Chapter three finds an attraction growing between Anna and Jinnai, however Jinnai started to avoid her and she's not sure why. Does it have something to do with what happened after their bus ride home? The archery club is also dealing with several thefts happening. Is someone out to sabotage the school's team or is it something else?

In chapter four, the team is competing in a contest when Anna runs into an old admirer who is still infatuated with her. Thinking she could get rid of the jerk, Anna made a bet with him however she didn't realize that he's one of the best at archery. This chapter also shows Anna and Jinnai finally admitting how much they really like each other.

The last chapter finds Anna being offered an opportunity to return back to the stage (a knee injury had sidelined her) but is she really ready to give up archery.

This was a fun read, I like the characters and the story. It was sweet, funny and a little crazy. Anna once had her heart set on being the best ballerina ever but after her injury she wasn't so sure about herself. Archery gave her the chance to be good at something else. I like that this showed all the hard work Anna was went through to achieve her dream.

I thought Anna and Jinnai were both a little crazy with their rivalry especially since they were so much alike. Although, Anna does have a huge ego which at times makes her feel like she can do anything but it also annoys her friends.

I enjoyed reading this so much that I ordered a copy as soon as I was finished (I borrowed this from a friend).

Book Review for A-Z Title Challenge: Kitchen Princess vol #4 (Manga)

Book: Kitchen Princess volume #4 (chapters #16-18) by Miyuki Kobayashi with illustrations by Natumi Ando

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

In this volume, friendship problems arise when Najika unaware of a deceitful situation that Akane has now created which resulted in Daichi being mad at Najika. It also caused Daichi to stop going to the diner to get food. In between all this chaos, Najika finally found out who had given her a gift years ago.

After the truth about the watch situation came out, Daichi was starting to realize that his feelings for Najika maybe more than just friendship while Najika has a huge crush on his brother Sora.

In another part in the story, Najika was reluctant to enter the National Western Confectionary cooking competition. She wasn't sure she could compete with so many professional cooks but Sora convinced her that she could.

The competition wasn't the only thing on Najika's mind, she finally confronted Akane about the watch and they ended up in a fight in the school cafeteria but there also a real understand between the two of them and perhaps even friendship.

Dacihi was starting to wonder why Sora was so interested in Najika entering the cooking competition, he believes Sora is up to something or it could just be because he's jealous.

There are a lot of ups and downs with these four characters and toss in a little romance it's a wonder what will happen next in this series. This is such a fun and very sweet slightly drama filled series. I love the characters and the artwork and not to mention all the food. Four volumes in and Kitchen Princess is still a great series, can't wait to read the next one.

Book Review for the A-Z Title Challenge: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi vol #12 (Manga)

Book: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi volume #12 by Syun Matsuena

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This volume continues to be a good read with it being well written, funny and full of drama and action. I like how the characters are written, the author does a good job with showing that Kenichi is more than just a student of Ryozampaku, he's family.
 

Chapter #99:

This chapter continues from the last volume with Kenichi in the ring with Thor, the 7th Fist of the gang Ragnorak. It looks like a really tough battle with Kenichi out matched in both size and strength but that doesn't mean he's going to quit.

Kenichi doesn't like senseless fighting and puts a wager to Thor that if Kenichi wins Thor would quit being a member of Ragnorak. So instead of fighting that would give Thor time to focus on achieving his dream of turning competitive sumo wrestling into a popular sport.

But can Kenichi even possibly win with the odds stacked against him.


Chapter #100:

In this chapter, Kenichi listened to his frenemy Niijima about trying to appear more confident as well as he told Kenichi that he is more stronger than he used to be. However instead of being a pep talk that little discussion seemed to have boosted Kenichi's ego. With it causing Kenichi to slack off on his training at Ryozampaku leaving the senseis to issue a challenge to him. The challenge didn't go as planned once his teacher Apachai participated.

In the end, Kenichi learned a valuable lesson not to go around bragging and slacking off. He will never get to his senseis level if he doesn't work hard.



Chapters #101-105:

This story opens with Thor being beat up by Ragnorak for quitting the gang. The group is also keeping intel on Kisara (her Ragnorak name is Valkyrie) who they believe might double cross them especially since she seems to think some what highly of the Shimpaku Alliance.

Despite being a tough girl and a member of a gang, there's more to Kisara than shown and Miu and Kenichi got to see another side of her after they see her taking care of a stray kitten.  But unbeknownst to Kisara, Freya's had her watched by the other Valkyries who were ready to take action after they spot Kisara hanging out with Kenichi and Miu.

Afraid to bring the kitten back to the dojo, Miu keeps leaving to go take care of it. While Kisara keeps watch in hopes that someone will adopt it but her body language and stares keep scaring people away. It's possible that she loves the little kitten so much that she doesn't want to see it go to a stranger. However, seeing as she has no place to live she's not sure how she could even take care of it.

As soon as Miu went into a store to get an umbrella, the Valkyries decided to attack Kisara who they believe to be a traitor. The Valkyries are willing to put the kitten in harms way to destroy their opponent but with the kitten now injured will Kisara be able to fight them off to get the cat some help? It's a good thing Kenichi and Miu showed up, Miu took the kitten to the vet while Kenichi tried to help Kisara. However, his vow never to hit or fight girls might be his downfall especially since these girls are tough and are using weapons. But help comes unexpectedly from his weapons expert teacher Shigure who can turn anything into an effective weapon.

Going through all of this changed Kisara and had her rethinking being associated with Ragnorak.



Chapters #106-107:

These chapters has Kenichi listening to Miu's grandfather Hayato Furinji tell him how Apachai wound up at Ryozampaku as a way to keep Kenichi from telling his granddaughter about his expensive hobby. In the story, Hayato and Miu were traveling around taking on quests for help. When they arrived in a small village they found out that the town has been overrun by a gang and they have stolen the children from the village with plans to sell them. Also, the gang's body guard is Apachai, who is known as the "God of Death".

This story ends on a cliffhanger with Hayato about to face off with Apachai after Hayato attacked the gang's ship to rescue the village children.


I'm really looking forward to reading the next volume to see how Hayato is going deal with Apachai especially since I don't think because of Apachai's kind nature that he truly doesn't know what that gang is up to and they're most likely using him. But I guess I will have to wait and see.

Book Review: Wolf (Manga)

Book: Wolf by Shige Nakamura

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Naoto heads for the city to find the father who abandoned him as a child, determined to get vengeance!

But he finds out it won't be that easy: Dad is a champion boxer!

Now, Naoto must train to face his own father for the Japan feather weight title.


Rating: 5 stars

Review:

I'm not really a boxing fan but you don't need to be to read this story. It follows Naoto Okami a young man on his quest for revenge against his father boxing champ Kengo Kurozaki for leaving him and his mother Yuki over 12 years ago.

On his way to Tokyo, Naoto met a new friend Shota who was training to become a sumo wrestler.

Naoto eventually found his way to the training gym where his father was coach and immediately attacked him but despite not fighting for nearly six years Kengo could easily defend himself. After the fight, Kengo set it up where Naoto could live and train at the gym in exchange for him doing some maintenance work.

After a training match with Naoto, Kengo was ready to return to the professional ring as well as the father and son plan to fight at a later time. Naoto got help with his training from Mayumi (nutrition), Ginji (coach) and Boku (creates training schedule) who soon became his friends but it wasn't until a former boxing champ became his primary coach that he really started to improve and not just stick to one specific punch.

His father wasn't his only rival, fighter Ryuji Morimoto was one of the toughest fighters in his weight class and he wanted to fight him again since Ryuji bested him during a practice fight.

Amazing story, it kept my attention all the way through. There was a lot of drama and emotions as father and son meet up after so many years apart. You see how driven Naoto is to avenge him and his mother but you also see how everything effects both his mother and father. There was a tense moment when Naoto's mother Yuki was injured in an accident and neither father or son knew about it as they were about have their most anticipated fight.

There's also a bonus story at the end that focused on Naoto's mother while she's in the hospital, this was a great way to show readers how the family was coping and trying to renew their bond.

This was very good, Naoto started out as this angry young man who felt abandoned by his father who ended up finding out something important about himself. You also see how the father Kengo went from being a uncaring person (as he perhaps pretended to be) into seeing that being the champ wasn't as important as he thought it was. Meanwhile, Yuki may have had more heart and faith than both of them.

I wonder if the author is going to continue with this series, I would be interested in reading more from it.

Book Review: Henshin (Manga)

Book: Henshin by Ken Niimura

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

I Kill Giants co-creator Ken Nimura (International Manga Award winner and Eisner nominee) brings a unique vision of life in Japan to the page in Henshin.

The lives of a kid with peculiar superpowers, a lonely girl discovering herself in the big city, and a businessman on a long night out are some of the short stories included in this collection that will make you laugh, and even maybe shed a tear.

Explore Tokyo as you've never seen it before under Nimura's masterful and imaginative storytelling, printed here for the first time in English.


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Henshin is a collection of 13 short stories that covers the everyday to the slightly sci-fi. There is a good blend of humor mixed in with the dark and serious.

I love how zany some of these stories could be then there are other stories that are very profound and thought provoking.

The author even has a few stories about his love of cats and how this mysterious cat that roams his neighborhood maybe a superhero.

I enjoyed reading this because it can be a little unexpected and odd at times but overall you get a sense of what the author was trying to convey with each story. I really like this.

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice (Manga)

Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen adapted by Stacy King with illustration by PoTse

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Beloved by millions the world over, Pride & Prejudice is delightfully transformed in this bold new manga adaptation. All of the joy, heartache, and romance of Jane Austen’s original, perfectly illuminated by the sumptuous art of manga-ka Po Tse, and faithfully adapted by Stacy E. King


Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Marvel's adaptation of Pride & Prejudice may have been simply atrocious however this Manga version is a dream read. I love everything about this book from the adaptation to the artwork.

It managed to hold on to the original story as well as highlight many of the humorous moments that were already present in Austen's story. This was so funny and it made me laugh so much yet all of this humor doesn't take anything away from the story. This is a good adaptations and as I stated above it's very faithful to the original story just with a few manga elements added in.

As with the Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice the story is filled with romance, emotions, drama and misunderstandings. It's a lively story that shows that someone may not be as we perceive them to be.

There maybe some purist who may object to this book not being historically accurate or having too much humor in it but all I can say is that this is just a fun adaption on the classic with humor mixed in with all the wonderful moments from the story.

Book Review for A-Z Title Challenge: Fruits Basket vol #3 (Manga)

Book: Fruits Basket volume #3 by Natsuki Takaya

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This volume focused mostly on Souma family drama.

Chapters #13 and 14 dealt with Kyo trying to compete with two family members. The competition between cousins Kyo (zodiac form: cat) and Yuki (zodiac form: rat) continues in this volume. Kyo will stop at nothing to prove that he is the better of the two and with an endurance test (race) at school, he thinks he will finally get his chance. During the race, Tohru meets another member of the Souma family, Hatsuharu who has shown up for a duel against Kyo.

While those two fight each other Yuki who was already sick started to feel even worse and they needed to take him back home. Hatsuharu's transformation is ridiculous he turns into a cow but at that moment that was the only way the could get Yuki home without him accidentally changing and being seen by someone.

While Yuki was resting, Hatsuharu was telling Tohru how him and Yuki got to know one another. Hatsuharu had this grudge against Yuki even before he knew him all because he thought the reason people always laughed at him was because of one of the zodiac stories about the ox and mouse.

Chapters #15 and 16 has everyone celebrating Valentine's Day but Kyo is not enjoying it at all especially when Kagura showed up. She's obsessed with Kyo and to ensure he will go on a date with her, Kagura suggested they go on a group date with Yuki and Tohru, even though those two are not dating.

With the four off on their date, Shigure seems to be up to something in regards to Tohru. From his conversation with Hatori, it appears that Shigure may be using Tohru to keep the peace around the house since she has some kind of positive influence over Yuki and Kyo. Hopefully, his motives are no more than that.

In chapters #17 and 18, Tohru gets a part-time job to pay for her school trip and the adorable Momiji returns. He brings with him an offer for Tohru, a trip to the hot springs and he also invited Yuki and Kyo to go along. The trip was relaxing for everyone with the exception of Kyo who didn't seem happy about anything while he was there. Tohru, Yuki and Kyo got a surprise when they learned that Momiji (along with Hatsuharu) will start going to their school for the next school year. Tohru was really surprised to find out that Momiji is actually older than he looks, he looks like a little kid instead of a teenager.

This was really cute and funny because this family never fails to do something crazy which has absolutely nothing to do with the curse the family shares. I really like this series.

Book Review: Stones of Power (Manga)

Book: Stones of Power by Isora Azumi (Azumi Isora)

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Café Renard seems to be your run-of-the-mill establishment, but it is more than meets the eye.

When strangers stumble upon the hidden secret within an average business front, they find a mysterious woman selling stones with magical properties.

Before they know it they are transported on strange adventures of science fiction and fantasy.


Rating: 3 stars

Review:

This had an interesting story but it was a little strange at times. Stones of Power follows a young man Harushige Fujita who has a huge interest in fish and is hired by a brother and sister Ozaki and Youko to care for their rare fish. The siblings own the Café Renard which is part café and part jewelry store. The sister sells custom jewelry that she makes.

Fujita has only went to Café Renard to pick up his sister's jewelry order but the good advice he gave the owners impressed them and knew he was the right person to care for their fish. But ever since Fujita visited the store, strange things have been happening to him starting with a dream. Things become even weirder when the dreams are some how connected to the fish.

That's not the only strange things happening when Ozaki and Youko are hired by a wealthy family to find out the reason why a young family member has fainted on the property. They believe it has something to do with a long forgotten shrine on the grounds. Soon, Fujita is accompanying the siblings as they attempt to deal with the shrine.

Stones of Power is sci-fi/supernatural meets Ancient Aliens with a couple of unusual artifacts centering in on the story. The artwork was good and the characters were interesting. I thought Fujita's sister brought a lot of humor to the story even though she was only in a few scenes.

I would be interested in reading more stories from this manga because it was different. The only issue I had with this was there were moments when it felt like parts of the story were missing and could have been explained better.

Book Review for A-Z Title Challenge: Arisa vol #2 (Manga)

Book: Arisa volume #2 (chapters #5-8) by Natsumi Ando

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

In this second volume, Tsubasa continues to pretend to be her sister Arisa while investigating and trying to find out who the "King" is. With her friend Takeru they believe they found him. She thinks they can stop him when a wish is granted to cancel the school's athletic festival because to do that the King has instructed that someone must be hurt for the wish to be fulfilled.

Just when Tsubasa has caught the King an accident happens and she spots a shadowy figure but the real surprise comes when she (or her sister Arisa) is accused of being the King. But there is no way her sister is the King, she is way too nice to be the one behind all the terrible things the King does.

Turning her focus onto her sister, Tsubasa finds some evidence that just might prove she is the King but it doesn't do away with her doubts. Because what she found didn't show anything bad mainly showing nice things the King has done such as returning a lost umbrella to a student. The evidence certainly doesn't show any of the horrible things the King has been doing lately.

So what should Tsubasa do, give up the investigation or continue? That question is quickly answered when the latest wish has been grant leaving her no choice but to continue. And with someone knowing that she is not Arisa things are starting to escalate but her and Takeru may have gained a new ally.

This is so good because the story keeps you guessing even when it might tip the reader to a clue it doesn't mean that's where the story is headed. There are so many intriguing and interesting things about this story including the characters. The story is full of twists and turns as Tsubasa delves deeper into this mystery.

Book Review: Vs Aliens (Manga)

Book: Vs Aliens by Suzuki Yu or Yu Suzuki (I've seen it written both ways and I'm not sure which one is correct)

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Kitaro must unravel a mystery between the two cutest girls in school.

One claims the other is an alien!

Is Sana Sakuma really a secret visitor from outer space or is this some elaborate prank?

The mystery spirals in and out, back and forth, keeping you guessing until the very end.

Do you want to believe?


Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

This story was so cute. It was very interesting a sort of sci-fi mystery that had drama and humor. When Kitaro Iguchi is approached one day at school by Aya Segawa another student at school the last thing he would have thought was Aya telling him that she thinks another student Sana Sakuma was an alien. That's crazy right? But she seemed so sincere he couldn't help wanting to help her.

So, Kitaro came up with a plan to ask Sana if she was an alien. I didn't really see that plan going too well. After things started to progress, Sana started to believe that she was an alien and Aya said she spotted a UFO but the clincher was when Sana said her mother left and needed Sana to go on the run.

I don't want to say anymore so as not to spoil the story but let's just say Kitaro found himself wondering if aliens were real but more importantly found two new friends and maybe more.

There were some really interesting twists and turns in this story that I loved. I also really like all three main characters. I loved how everything turned out in this, it's a very good story.

Book Review: Sorako (Manga)

Book: Sorako by Fujimura Takayuki

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Sorako lives an ordinary life. And this is an ordinary story. She has friends and family, loves her dog, thinks about life, and occasionally looks for work (kinda). These are the adventures into a typical girl's life.  


Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

Sometimes it's nice to read a comic book about nothing more than everyday life. Sorako is a compilation of seven short stories that follow the lives of several people.


1st story "Lost Dog"

In this first story, Sorako had a job interview and she is also looking for her lost dog Toma. She has her heart set on that job but she's starting to feel a little disappointed and bored about living in her hometown but after visiting her father who has been in the hospital, she starts to get a new outlook on life and appreciation of things. Which will come in handy with trying to be hopeful that her dog Toma will find his way home and that she will get the job.


2nd story "April 18th (Thursday)"

The story follows a young barista who worked a full shift at the café but she's also trying to learn how to speak English because she would love to go to England either to visit or to study abroad. Two problems she doesn't have the money and her English is not up to task yet. And thanks to her friend telling a few people, all day her fellow employees and some customers kept asking about her plans to travel to England.

She's not going to let anything stop her from learning English not even being tired from working all day is going to stop her.


3rd story "The Birdcage and the Bystander"

In this third story, Hatoko is shown hanging out with her two friends Nojiko and Sugimura. One evening when she was at home getting ready to relax and enjoy a pizza she had ordered she received a phone call from Nojiko asking her to meet her and Sugimura at the bar (and bring the pizza) and after they were enjoying a couple of beers they headed out to Nojiko's apartment so she can show them her latest hobby oil painting but she doesn't use regular old oil paint no she uses condiments.

Nojiko is also thinking about buying an instrument. Throughout the story you get a sense that Hatoko doesn't really express her feelings that she's hiding a lot of things inside. Her life is filled with ups and downs but it's hard for her to just let her feelings out.

But I think after hanging out with her friend, Hatoko may have finally started to embrace life and stop being a sort of emotionless bystander.


4th story "Sorako's Job"

As you can tell from the title this story is about Sorako (from the first story) and who is still trying to find a job but this time it doesn't seem like she's trying too hard to find one. Despite her mother encouraging her to find one, all she mostly does is watch movies. She just can't seem to find the right job and an unexpected injury might be just what she's looking for to buy her some extra time.


5th story

In this story, a young Sorako was planning on joining a gym because she thought she had gained some weight but she found it to be more of a pain that it was worth. That girl is just lazy but this was cute and funny.


6th story "Intercolor"

A young woman had been caught leaving the love hotel and with help from her friend they tried to come up with a believable lie to tell that would explain why she was there.


7th story "A Boring Breakfast"

A young wife was starting to get tired of the same boring routine and wanted a change in her life. This story had her questioning her life and wanting to take a chance and pursue something different.


This was a very good group of stories, that range from funny to thought-provoking. The characters are interesting these stories show a glimpse into their lives whether they are attempting something new or making a huge mistake.

Book Review: Fiji Random vol #1 (Manga)

Book: Fiji Random volume #1 written and drawn by Justin Ramey

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

From the creative mind of Justin Raimey comes the debut volume of his comedy comic series!

Venture into the world of Fiji Random! A kooky comedy featuring gamer-girl Fiji Maide and her epic struggle to arrive to school on time!

This story includes its own unique style with humorous 4-panel comics splashed between the main storyline. Are you looking for an exciting tale filled to the brim with milk, sweeties and random high school hijinks? How about half-zombie girls, accidental homicide, cosplaying moms, and aliens addicted to milt (look it up)? Well, there's that and more in the amazing world of Fiji Random! Get ready for a story full of laughs, video game references, and unpredictability. Fiji Random is everything you wish your high school life could be!


Rating: 1 star

Review:

The premise for this seemed really cute and also the cover but it's a different story when I started reading it. This wasn't as funny as I thought it would be and it felt like it was trying too hard to be like some of those other crazy and zany mangas. Instead of being original. From the book description you're told that Fiji is a gamer and is always late to school. The book showed her being late but not Fiji playing any video games or why she's so hooked on playing games.

Although, there is a main story in this book it's segmented by a lot of random short stories.

What made this a disappointing read is you don't really get to know who the characters are. And most of the jokes or humor feels like the reader should already know what's going on. Also, I thought the illustrations could have been cleaned up a bit before being published. They were a little rough and the quality wasn't as good as you would expect especially with the cover art being so good.

I understand that is a web comic maybe it translates better on the website than it does in book form. I don't know, all I know is it wasn't the best read for me.

Book Review: One is Enough (Manga)

Book: One is Enough by Love Robert

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Matsumoto-kun is just about to turn sixteen when he accidentally bumps into and injures his mysterious high school senpai, Mizushima-kun.

Now, he is bound to make it up to him. But the lines aren't clear on just how far this new angst-filled, steamy relationship will go?



Rating: 1 star

Review:

Lets see, this book has three things I can't stand: bad writing, annoying characters and obsessive insta-love.

It's bad enough that the writing is awful but the story wasn't interesting either. It's all just insta-love.

The story is about 16 years old freshman Yuu Matsumoto who after running into upperclassman Shizuku Mizushima instantly started falling in love with him. He was so obsessive that he didn't stop and think whether Shizuku was worth all of this obsessing over. Yuu was turning into a stalker and it wasn't helping this already terrible story. Yuu wasn't the only one with issues, Shizuku had closed off his feelings after a bad break-up and was not very receptive to Yuu constantly bombarding him with his feelings.

This was a complicated romance but the bad writing made the story nearly unreadable. The only time it seem like the author was really writing something good was when Matsumoto was having a difficult time trying to figure out his feelings and why he was feeling the things he was. And I thought the last few pages at the end were okay. But by then it feels like too little too late.

But other than that this was really an awful story. Perhaps if the cheesy writing and obsessive insta-love was toned down this could have been an interesting story. Because by the end you could finally start to see what made these characters tick and they weren't as annoying as much as they were initially but it was just too late by then.

I do wish this could have been a better read.

Book Review for Book Club: Ghost Hunt vol #1 (Manga)

Book: Ghost Hunt volume #1 by Shiho Inada, story by Fuyumi Ono

Rating: 2 stars

Review:

Okay, this was boring and the story was really slow moving.

In this first volume, a school principal hires various ghost hunters (a Priest, a Monk, a Ghost Hunter, a Priestess and a Psychic Medium) to rid the old part of the school of ghost. That part of the school has been set to be demolished but when ever a project start some accident causes the plan to be postponed.

After Mai, a student at the school accidentally breaks the Ghost Hunter's camera and injured his assistant, she starts working with him as his temporary assistant to make up for not being able to afford to pay for a new camera.

All five of the ghost hunters which includes Mai start investigating the school. With each of the experts trying different ways to determine if the school was haunted. The result of the investigation might not have been the most interesting thing but at least Mai found herself with a new part-time job.

I was really bored by this first volume and at the moment, I'm not sure I want to continue with this series but I'll see how I feel later. Maybe the second volume will be better.

Read-a-thon book 11 review: Case Closed vol #4 (Manga)

Book: Case Closed volume #4 (chapters #30-39) written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This volume featured three very different mysteries:

Chapters #30-32:

In the first mystery, Conan, Ran and her father Detective Kogoro Mouri were visiting an art museum when they find the body of the gallery owner murdered in one of the exhibit rooms. As the police detective and detective Mouri try to solve the case, the evidence points to one of the employees of the museum but Conan has doubt that he is really the murderer. He uses a clever trick to unveil the murderer.


Chapters #33-35:

The second mystery had Conan while taking a train with Ran and her father to a wedding, sees the Men in Black, the two mysterious guys that had tried to kill him by giving him a poison that turned him into a little boy. He set about trying to figure out what those two were up to and he ends up finds out there's a bomb on the train. A passenger was unknowingly carrying it after exchanging cases with the Men in Black. So, it was a race against time to try to find the bomb before it explodes. But to get Ran to help him, Conan nearly told her who he really was but luckily he didn't have to because he was able to figure out who was carrying the bomb.


Chapters #36-39:

In the last mystery, Conan and his three elementary school friends try to figure out a code to get a figurine and after solving the code they get Ran to take them on Saturday to pick up their prize. They picked up their gift but it was mistakenly taken and in its place was a bag filled with a code. After they exchanged bags with a guy, the kids and Ran went on their way but later the guy tried to retrieve the code after realizing that it was missing but Ran chased the guy off, thinking he was harassing them.

However, unbeknownst to Conan (and Ran) the other kids had kept the code thinking it was a treasure map. The next day the kids along with Conan planned to go searching for the treasure. The code had them searching all over town mainly because they kept making wrong guesses to what the code really was and where to go. It took a trip to the bookstore for Conan to get a clue about the code but he still couldn't decipher it yet. But when one of his friends stumbled upon a clue, Conan was able to get a grasp on what the code may be. However, the kids didn't realize that they were being followed by the guy and his two accomplices who were all part of a group of international thieves.

Thanks to Conan he was able to find the treasure and capture the crooks. When Conan is with his elementary school friends the mystery always reminds me of an episode of Scooby-Doo. They are a bit more light-hearted than the other mysteries.


I enjoyed reading this group of mysteries they were really good and had me trying to figure out what was going on. I also love that they are also really funny.

Read-a-thon book 10 review: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi vol. #11 (Manga)

Book: History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi volume #11 (chapters #90-98) by Syun Matsuena

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

I like reading this series because it's well written and it's a perfect blend of drama, humor and action. This volume featured three stories:


Chapters #90-92:

In this story, Kenichi was worried about Mizunuma, a fellow student and member of the Shinpaku Alliance (a group that the annoying Niijima started at school) after Kenichi and Miu saw him beating up another student as they were walking to school. Mizunuma used to be bullied but has now turned into a bully after taking aggressive karate lessons. After learning where the dojo was, Kenichi along with Niijima decided to check it out to see how the lessons are going.

But once they got there, Kenichi saw that the lessons were worst than he thought. The students were being taught dirty fighting techniques where they are told to win at any cost. Not liking what he was seeing, Kenichi stopped Mizunuma from taking a fatal attack on another student. But for interfering, Kenichi was forced to fight the leader of the dojo. Kenichi has no desire to fight unnecessarily but he has no way out of the situation he found himself in.

Kenichi was holding up pretty well in the fight until the dojo leader decided to play dirty but then Kenichi got some unexpected help from one of his sensei's from Ryozampaku.


Chapters #93-96:

The second story had Kenichi trying to create a signature finishing move. Unfortunately, he went to his crazy teachers (sensei) for advice however, the response and techniques he got were truly frightening. All he wanted was something simple but effective yet non-lethal but that's far from what they showed him. He finally received some good advice from the leader of the dojo which had Kenichi trying to figure out what kind of fighter he is and what would be the best technique for him. He also learned that he can't learn a technique for someone else he needed to create one for himself.

With all that going on, the last person he wanted to see again was Renka (who has a bit of a crush on him) showing up to see her father (one of the sensei at the dojo). While Renka was staying there she brought out a bit of jealousy in Miu, who although is friends with Kenichi also has a little crush on Kenichi (as well as Kenichi has a little crush on Miu).

Renka seeing how stressed Kenichi was with still no luck with coming up with a signature move, invited him to join her at the indoor water park in the city. Unbeknownst to Renka, her father invited the rest of the sensei and Miu to the same water park. So while all the sensei were all there, they decided to give Kenichi some additional training.

Kenichi got in even more training when he had to come to Miu's defense when she was being attacked by two guys, those guys had shown up to take Renka back to her uncle's dojo but Renka had lied to Miu and told her those guys were from the Mafia, so Miu tried to fight them off but had a little wardrobe malfunction which caused Kenichi to stand up for her. This was one of those rare occasions when Kenichi could protect her because Miu doesn't usually need anyone to fight for her, she is more than capable of taking care of herself.

In the end whether Kenichi realized it or not he found his signature move, he just doesn't know it yet.


Chapters #97-98:

The last story which ends with a cliffhanger, had some of the members of the gang Ragnorak starting to feel restless as well as fourth member (or the 4th Fist) Loki possible stirring up some trouble. The rest of the story had Niijima talking Kenichi into going to the underground fight club and check out what goes on there. He also told Kenichi that the 7th Fist Thor goes there to fight. Kenichi should really learn to stop listening to Niijima because nothing good every comes from listening to him.

Once, Kenichi and the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance showed up at the fight club, Kenichi wound up getting into the fight pit with Thor who is known for his combative sumo fighting technique. This ended with Kenichi after taking several hits, ready for the fight.


I think it will be interesting to see what will happen in the next volume because as skilled as Kenichi is he is no match for Thor.