I haven’t watched any anime last season. However, last week, my friend had me watching Spice and Wolf. I am halfway through it, but I’m not enjoying it at all. Oh, I don’ t mind the economics aspect of it. But a love affair between a human and wolf (Alright, a wolf harvest deity) ?
She still has a tail, and yes I have a canine for a pet. I can’t tell my friend that the series bores me to death or that it gives me an uncomfortable and sickly feeling but thanks to her, I began to download animes again.
Vampire Knight is one of the new animes this season, and so far, the only one that attracted my attention (Code Geass R2 is still in my azureus queue). At first impression, it’s like the Ouran High School Hosts Club with fangs. I couldn’t wait for another week so I went ahead and read 8 volumes of the manga in one sitting. I loveeeee it!!!! And I want more!!!! It reminds me of the Laurell Hamilton Anita Blake Vampire series (just before the writer went haywire with her sexual fantasies). There’s some big taboo twist that kinda brings down the whole thing, but hey, they’re vampires! A lame excuse from the mangaka, but unlike wolves and humans, I think I can swallow this more easily. If you are a big shoujo manga fan, I highly recommend this series. Of course, if you are indeed a big shoujo fan, then it’s very likely that you already read this and I’m the one who’s obviously behind. Afterall, it is one of the most popular mangas at Mangatraders.
i actually read this from way way back… and yep.. the damn twist though as blatant as the the morning sun when the manga was slowly developing still made things dreary a bit when it finally came into the open. It is a love triangle pattern shoujo with occasional fight scenes and lots of “seduction”/sexual tension filled scenes among the characters. Well, that can be expected if you hang around vampires, ne? Not that typical shoujo I read/look for but it worth the read. However, I am a shoujo classic fan and I will definitely get Itazura na Kiss when it finishes and the media pirates of the Philippines star their production… (I dont have any internet at home now…. T=T) They say that they will properly close the story based on the late mangaka’s notes. Everything seems different so it is a little weird because character designs are updated to match today`s taste so we have contemporary bishie looking Irie and moe contestant Kotoko. heheheh
Oh, I dunno…I haven’t hang around any vampires lately. hehe..
Actually, I thought it was very PG for a vampire series. I really really like it.
I’ve been randomly dl-ing some shoujo lately, in case I found another series this good that I have missed, any recommendations?
I saw the first two episodes of Itazura na Kiss, and don’t get your hopes high. The level of animation is not that good. Kotoko is alright, but the rest looked like second rate bad guys in an anime.
Yeah I got to see the first episode… I am the type that can go past the animation if the story is very good. So there is no problem with me about that… Yeah everything feels weird because they are really different from what the characters look like from that classic manga. Yeah, they may look like second rate bad guys now but what if the original character design was used? HAHAHAHA…
Shoujo recommendation for you… have you read Hot Gimmick? That is a shoujo full of surprises but nonetheless good read. Shoujo with some leaning on the BL side is Antique cakehouse. Since you are abroad, I think it is available already on bookstores. You cannot find scanlations of that particular title unless you go into IRC. For a serious josei I suggest you read Glass Mask. That is about it. I am more into short shoujo smut now. There are a lot of them in the online sites in the mature category. hehehe. They are short, sometimes have those doki doki moments but raunchy always.. hahaha
About what is PG for Japan and other countries…. I think boobs and sex (the act and all innuendos) are ok for thirteen year olds in Japan. So I am not surprised with Vampire Knight seeming PG. They (Japanese culture) are very much open to their sexuality that basically material like manga and anime have things like that even for the younger audiences… Often those small details get censored or totally left out in imports though.
On the other hand. there are still some prudish rules/ double standard for primetime though. Have you heard the Kouhaku incident with DJ Ozma of two years past. Kouhaku Utagassen is the annual NHK year end and year start music program. For DJ Ozma’s number the group had dancers put on body suits to appear naked. After that there was such a controversy that ensued. Viewers demanded that NHK gave an apology and such. NHK did. But makes you wonder, pornography is even included in Japan’s broadsheets so the naked body is not something that is secret to everybody even kids but is appearing to be naked worse than being naked on national tv? heheheh
Yup, I have read a few volumes of Hot Gimmick. I didn’t get the hype though. But if there are surprises like you say, maybe I’ll read some more. On BL, I find it cute on dramas like Nodame and Hana Kimi, but when it comes to mangas, I tend to skip those scenes (not because I find them disgusting, just uninteresting).
You read smut? Sukebe…hehe. One complaint I have on one shot smut though is that I cannot rely on the writers to pull off a good storyline. They seem to have one kind of template (not that I have read a lot to be a pro on this, lol). So if you have one in mind that gives out a doki doki feeling even when it gets explicit, I want to read it. Hehe.
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll look for them the next time I visit our local bookstore.
i am soo addicted to Vampire Knight right now i’m still waiting for the next chapter and episode to come out!!!!!