Hello, dearies! After so many months without a single manga review, now I bring two in the same week, right? Yup, that’s crazy old me for you all, haha! This time, I’m going to talk about TokyoPop’s duology manga series for Beauty and The Beast: Belle’s Tale and Beast’s Tale ❤ I received my review copies from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and here we go! Thank you all, guys! /o/
*~.Belle’s Tale.~*
In Disney’s live-action film Beauty and the Beast, Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman, is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince inside. This manga explores Belle’s innermost thoughts as she learns that true beauty comes from within.
~*~
*~.Beast’s Tale.~*
A tale as old as time … told in timeless manga style Disney’s much-anticipated live-action adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast” hits theaters in March 2017, and it stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. This original two-part manga series is based upon the upcoming movie… but you’ve never seen this classic love story told quite this way before. The “Beauty” manga delves into Belle’s deepest thoughts as she’s taken prisoner by the Beast in his majestic castle. Where the “Beast” manga explores Beast’s deepest thoughts as he captures Belle in his castle and finds himself falling in love with her feisty attitude and adventurous spirit.
Hii, guys! THIS REVIEW IS SO OMG SPECIAL FOR ME!! First, because it’s a manga review and I can’t even say when was the last time I wrote one of those. Second, because this manga was my first ever received book through Edelweiss! SO EXCITING!
I’m talking about Hatsune Miku: Mikubon, by Ontama! As you may have guessed, I received my copy from Dark Horse Manga through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review and here we go! THANK YOU, GUYS!! You rock!
Hatsune Miku and her friends Rin, Len, and Luka are not only back in manga…they’re back to school, enrolling at the St. Diva Academy for Vocaloids! They’re going to give it their best at St. Diva, as a wonderland of friendship, determination, and even love unfolds! But can they stay out of trouble, especially when the mad professor of the Hachune Miku Research Lab is nearby…?
Hello, beautiful people! Welcome to my November Wrap Up and thanks for being here today ❤ All in all, November was pretty good for me, being my first month where I felt in control of my life since I started the new job and since I lost my beautiful darling Lady. The month flew off the window and I can’t believe we have just 23 days now until Christmas ❤ I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE MY FAMILY AGAIN! ❤ ❤
Soo, November was a so-so month for my standards. I’ve read 10 books, 22 volumes of manga and a comic book. I should have known I wouldn’t be able to beat my records of September (book-wise, haha!) and October (pages-wise, haha!). Maybe my reading slumped a little exactly because of all the intensity of the other months… #mystery
Hello, there! Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday and Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers around the internet ❤
I’m back with a manga review – just for you guys to have a notion of how late I am with my manga reviews, there are 10 pendent reviews after I finish writing this one. Ugh, I simply can’t keep up with myself, haha! Regarding today’s title, it’s another yaoi (gay) manga and it has been recommended to me by a Goodreads’ friend, Samantha. Thank you, dear! I really enjoyed this one 🙂 I’m talking about Sleeping Moon, from Kano Miyamoto-sensei!
Akihiko has a slightly peculiar family problem: all the male descendants of Odagawa family end up dead awfully early in life. Being a 27 year old, Akihiko knows he will be next unless he can break the said curse that already lasts centuries.
As he goes back to his family state on the countryside, things gets weird. His family seems to hold way more secrets than a regular one and those are far more deadly. Along with his cousin, Akihiko is hell bent in understanding why does his family members always turn up dead so early.
Things turn downward crazy when a lapse of time allows Akihiko to go back a hundred years, to the Meiji Era. There, he meets Eitaro, a young man that is also trying to understand the curse and break it.
Will the forces of past and present be able to change the Odagawas’ future?
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
This title was very different from the yaoi titles that I usually read and I loved the change of scenario. Being a mystery / time travelling /paranormal series, Sleeping Moon had a heavy art style and an eerie feeling about it all the time. It was like you needed to look over your shoulder as you read it, haha! As much as I found it all interesting, I didn’t like the loose ends on the series finale or the shallow way that the characters’ relationships were built. For those small things, I declare Sleeping Moon a proud 4 stars title 🙂
The narrative follows Akihiko mainly, but we also see the story from Eitaro and Ren’s points of view. The pace is fast and, sometimes, a bit confusing, as the characters mention several people and stories from the past that neither Akihiko, Eitaro or Ren care to explain to the reader. I think Miyamoto-sensei wanted to increase the mystery aura of the story, but it didn’t really work for me, haha!
The plot is complex and well executed. The mystery and paranormal elements are awesome and there are several funny moments to break the intensity of the story and its drama. The only reservation I’ve got is how Miyamoto-sensei build the amorous relationships on this title. As much as Akihiko says how deep his feelings for Eitaro are or how much he enjoys Ren’s advances, I didn’t feel it. It was like she just threw an amorous triangle there to have one and totally forgot to invest on this during the plot. There are a few sensual scenes (nothing very explicit) and that’s all. You don’t feel the love 😦
The characters were very well constructed and intriguing. I really liked Akihiko as a main character, as he was humble despite his accomplishments. He also wasn’t perfectly beautiful, just handsome in a regular kind of way what and I could feel that his life was real. All character’s emotions that weren’t love were pretty real, haha!
The art was cool and gorgeous, a different type from the ones that I usually swoon for. Take a look*:
from left to right: Ren and Akihikoand again, in black and white 🙂and here we have Eitaro and Ren 🙂
Isn’t this art beautiful? ❤
Overall, Sleeping Moon it’s an interesting and seat grabbing title, ideal for people that don’t really care about romance, haha!
Thanks for reading my review! Now there is only 10 more to go, haha! Oh, and thanks again to Samantha for the lovely recommendation ❤
ps:I do not own the illustrations, they were found on Google, belong to Kano Miyamoto sensei and were used with illustrative purposes only
Hello 🙂 It’s me again, late as usual, but with a tag! HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE THE LAST ONE?! (please don’t answer that, haha!)
Anyway, one of my best online friends, the amazing Jess from the Mud and Stars, tagged me on The Infinity Dreams Award! If you never heard about her blog, you totally don’t read mine should give her a go, I’m sure you’ll love her as much as I do! Thanks for the nomination, my dear! 😀 ❤
Rules:
Thank and link the blog that nominated you
Tell us 11 facts about yourself
Answer the questions that were set for you to answer
Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them
My 11 facts
1) I’m addicted to Diet Coke and sometimes it increases highly the intensity of my fangirlings and my capacity of shipping pretty much anyone anywhere. Example? Okay. There was I watching Madagascar 3, on my third can of Diet Coke, when the following thought crosses my mind: “oh my, Alex and Vitale would make an awesome couple with all the angst and sexiness about them!”
Seriously. At that moment, I knew it was too late.
2) I’m a social butterfly in my offline life and an introvert on the online life. I know, it makes no sense at all, but I never seem to know what to type or who to talk to on internet. Example? Sure, sure. Goodreads’ book clubs. I’ve been to three and don’t remember saying a word to any of them despite actively following their discussions. Should I say something? When? Spoilers allowed? Am I supposed to read the book they chose now or can I do it anytime?
I just don’t know what I’m doing.
3) I love to start collections. Since I’m a child, I’ve been collecting the most weird stuff and some other cool ones. Sometimes I cool off about a collection just to dive back in some months later. I know, I know: examples. Well, I collect stationary stuff, notebooks, bookmarks, Pokémon cards, thematic magnets of cities, states and countries, perfumes, sea shells, rings… My most new and unfortunately lacking collection is my Funko collection. I only own three: Snape, Jessica Rabbit and Lilo. I have another one coming in that I won today (literally this morning, haha!), but I wished I could afford many more.
those are my baby funkos so far 🙂
4) I’ve been a Slytherin since I’m 7 and I really wished Draco Malfoy had a true friend.
5) I feel I’m running out of things to say and we are only in the middle of this list.
6) I have such a fondness for lgbt love in general because I feel this is the last true social barrier for a relationship to actually work. If I’m reading contemporary romances and it is all about the couple getting together with some insecurity drama to it, I just don’t feel like reading it. I don’t see a valid problem, you know? But a lgbt couple has yet to deal with a lot of shit from society – from their own homes, in many occasions. That’s why I pin harder for them 🙂
7) This last month, I’ve been obsessed with a song by Blake Lewis, called I Want You. If I could hear merman sing, I bet it would sound as beautiful and alluring as that song. I’ve actually danced while walking in the middle of the street several times when it came on my iPod. My neighborhood must think I’m on drugs or something, haha!
8) I hate clothes shopping, but never take me along to buy shoes. I’ll end up taking the whole store if I can. And then I’m stuck with good things to wear only on my feet. It’s not unusual to see me in outfits 7 or 8 years old and a brand shinning pair of shoes along them.
from my personal Instagram 🙂 (@annebollmann616)
9) I love big nails. I used to be a heavy bitter until elementary school, but I had this offline best friend (hi, Hachi!) that wore her nails longer even as a child. I thought it was so beautiful and awesome that I put on my head that I wanted to have beautiful nails too, with or without anxiety attacks. I don’t know how, but somewhere along the way until high school, I stopped biting my nails and started doing them myself. Now I’m the queen of the big nails and share Hachi’s throne ❤
this is my regular nail size nowadays 🙂
10) Sometimes, I pretend that I can stick every character that I really like in a book inside Hogwarts. As I read, I imagine which House the character would go into, who would be their friends and all. And, of course, there aren’t only Harry Potter characters in Hogwarts at my head. Every character that I like and can remember is there to welcome the new comer. I’m such a loser sometimes hahahaha!
11) The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange will reach its first year of life next month! I am so excited *–*
Jess’ Questions
1) Which fictional character is most like you?
That’s a hard question, haha! But searching my read books shef at Goodreads brain, I’d say that the character that hit the closest to my own personality and problems was Isis Blake, from Love Me Never – review here! I was so stunned with her that I actually teared up a bit at random times. She was so me, in both good and bad. I wish she could just pop out of the pages and become the twin sister that I’ve ever wanted, haha!
2) Which books have made you cry?
I did a list with ten on my last Top 10 Tuesday, haha! You can read about those books here 🙂 (Which I know you already did, Jess <3)
3) Has a book ever filled you with rage?
Oooh, many times. I’m the type that talks with the book as I read, so I naturally rage at them too when needed, haha!
4) Who is your favourite fictional couple?
Oh, dear. PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE AMONG MY CHILDREN LOL I’m kidding. If I was forced to stick with a single fictional couple forever, I’d choose Max and Tristan from All In With The Duke. I lost count on how many times I’ve read this book since it came out, haha!
5) Has there been a book which has genuinely scared you?
Yes, a couple of times. But the one that messed me up the most and wouldn’t allow me to sleep after reading was The Vanishing Game. It was surreal and not scary at all, but it disturbed me in a fashion that I was left paranoid for over a week after finishing it. THAT was scary, haha! But really spooked, I think it was A Stranger in the Mirror, by Sydney Sheldon. The book is a suspense drama or something, but seeing the castle of cards falling in the end spooked me on a personal level. Hm, I feel I wasn’t helpful at all on this answer, sorry!
Hmm, another hard one. I’m not really a sucker for magical pets – I like the regular ones like dogs and cats, haha! But I do like unicorns and dragons. Unicorns have been my thing since I was a child, but dragons were creatures that I learned to appreciate with Hachiyumi. She loves them to the core and I can’t help but to find them fascinating through her eyes 🙂
7) Favourite fantasy world?
Harry Potter’s, of course! How can anyone not love Hogwarts?!
8) Which book completely exceeded your expectations?
The last one was Kiss Kill Love Him Still. I so didn’t expect to be as hooked as I was! =O and now I’m crazily reading the sequel BECAUSE I NEED TO KNOW WHO KILLED JACKSON! No times for reviews yet, but they will be here soon enough, haha!
Stephenie Meyer: loved Twilight 1, hated all the other books in the series and The Host;
Kiera Cass: loved The Selection trilogy and have really strong hate feelings towards The Heir.
10) What’s your favourite book in a genre you don’t normally read?
Another hard one, I kind of read almost anything, haha! But okay, I usually hate self-help books, but I love The Blue Day Book! It has the most adorable animal pictures on it and it took me years to realize that it was indeed a self-help book, haha! Especially with Brazilian’s translated title, that hardly announces the book as such.
11) If you had another blog, what would you write about it instead of books?
I actually have another abandoned blog written in Brazilian Portuguese and it had all sorts of nerd things, haha! News, reflections upon life, reviews, fashion analysis… It was definitely nerd, haha!
That was a long run! I really don’t know who to tag right now – it’s 4:25AM and I really want to know who killed Jackson, so I’d like to everyone that never has been nominated before and/or people who would like to play along with The Infinity Dreams Award to speak up in the comments, please! Tomorrow I’ll be back with 11 questions and to edit this post and make nominations 🙂
Thanks for reading and I love you guys! Also, love you, Jess! ❤
Hi, there! Today I have something different to present as my Manga of the Week 🙂 How about something inspired by a famous game? Let’s talk about The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, by Akira Himekawa!
In a small village in Hyrule, there lives a boy called Link who has the mark of the Triforce on his left hand. It is a mark of destiny that leads Link on a fantastic adventure! Transported to the land of Holodrum, Link meets Din, the Oracle of Seasons. When a plot to steal the seasons from Holodrum unfolds, Link must battle the evil General Onox to save Holodrum and his friends from a terrible fate!
Why I think it’s a worth-reading manga: first, because it is Zelda. I love videogames, but Zelda is a title that I never had the chance of playing due lack of opportunity. I like the game’s concept, characters and plots (I have an offline friend that is a Zelda fan and she used to fill me in with the news pretty much always, so thank you for that, Lu! <3), so when I saw the opportunity to read something about Zelda, I just grabbed the manga as quickly as possible, haha! And it was cute and lovely as I expected it to be! So you should read it too 😀
That’s it, thanks so much! Have you ever read a manga based on a game? 🙂
Hello, y’all! Nice to see you around ❤ Welcome to my April wrap up! As the title suggests, I didn’t get a single new book in April, so let’s just forget this part, okay?
WRAP UP
In April, I managed to read 20 books, 11 volumes of manga and a comic book 🙂
Favorites of the month 🙂 Please add here The Quartermaster & The Marquis’ Son. I did this collage on Instagram moments before I decided to keep reading it and finished it quite by accident, haha!
BOOKS
To read my review for each book, just click on the respective links on the list 🙂
As much good that I was on April, I still failed to read some of the planned books. The reason? In two out of four cases, slacking. The other two? Family Issues. But I’ll read them someday!!
Hi, there! I know, it’s been FOREVER since my last manga review! I really need to manage my time better, haha! I promise I’ll catch up with myself soon 🙂 But mean while, let’s have fun talking about a very funny, cute and surprising manga series: Seito Kaichou Ni Chuukoku, from Monchu Kaori sensei!! 😀 (yes, it is a yaoi series… Again.) My review contemplates the series until volume 6 😉
Chiga, vice-president of his class, is obsessed with his president, Kokusai. The other guy is a magnet to pervs and weird people, so Chiga feels like is his duty to bodyguard for Kokusai.
What started as only a safety arrangement very soon grows into friendship with the undeniable pull of desire and passion behind it.
Can Chiga confess his true feelings for Kokusai? Will Kokusai accept something more?
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader 🙂
First things first: HACHIYUMI, WE HAVE TO STOP STARTING UNFINISHED SERIES!! LOL This one I’m not really sure if Hachiyumi recommended to me or if I found it myself and filled her whatsapp with crazy fangirlings while reading and bossing her around for her to read it too, haha! Both scenarios are equally like to happen and I apologize for my eccentricities to all my offline and online turned offline friends, as I have no control whatsoever when I’m obsessed with something, haha!
Now, to the manga: it had me since page one. The art is so delicate and yet the males remain so manly, haha! I loved everything about this series! Oh, well, I don’t really loved that it takes so long for its chapters to be out and about, but one can’t have everything, right? Haha! The title starts light and funny and gets darker with each volume until you are grabbing your seat and eating your nails without being able to breath. For sure, a 5 stars series!
The narrative is manly from Chiga’s point of view, but we get to switch characters more as the series go by. I liked the main couple and Chiga is one of my favorite manga guys! Also, the relationships on this series are so real, with the difficulties, the love, the camaraderie and all… It begins with a very fast pace and it slows down as the story gets more complex.
Which brings us to the plot. It starts simple and revolving around Chiga and Kokusai, as they need to work out their differences and feelings to be together. As things go by, new characters are introduced and Chiga and Kokusai start to share their spotlight with other gay couples. This is highly common for long yaoi series and now I’m going to tell the big secret behind this.
The truth is… that the authors rarely know how many volumes their stories will have. The manga publishers are merciless and demand a good start for the series. If you make trough that and the public loves it, only God knows when they will allow the author to finish their stories. Don’t believe me and need examples? Okay.
NARUTO. The author had the whole story prepared, but when it was coming to the end, the publishers begged him to keep going as Naruto is a world-wide gold mine. Results? The story got boring, confusing and repetitive.
Back to Seito Kaichou Ni Chuukoku: it is still being published and I think that’s awesome, but once the main problem gets solved and Chiga and Kokusai start to go out, there is only a handful of things that one can do to keep the story going without falling for Naruto’s destiny and that’s why other couples take over. Either the story that Kaori-sensei had in mind came to an end and she is stretching it or she never had a plan for a long-term publication and is going with the flow.
Anyway, the characters and the art are the best assets of this series. The characters are so real, intense and funny! They always have some snarky remark to make and Chiga is incredible. Kokusai is more naïve, so Chiga is the skeptical with streets’ smart. I laughed aloud many times while reading Seito Kaichou Ni Chuukoku ❤
And there is the art, that is breathtaking and only keeps getting better, as Miss Xtina would say.
Don’t need to believe me, look*:
from left to right: Kokusai, the bottom, and Chiga, the top ❤
and it is still beautiful in black and white ❤ I took the liberty of erasing the line in the square due to spoilers 🙂
Really, I love this delicate and beautiful art style that still manages to portray guys as guys lol
Overall, if you like yaoi, daily life titles, wonderful art and awesome characters, you have to add Seito Kaichou ni Chuukoku to your TBR pile!
Thanks so much for reading my review!! ❤ What’s your favorite on-going manga series?
*ps: I do not own the illustrations, they were found on Google, belong to Monchu Kaori sensei and were used with illustrative purposes only
Hello, there! We reached another middle in another week and it’s time for me to recommend a manga title again! Today’s title is dedicated to Hachiyumi, who’s coming over my place on the holidays!! God knows what we will be getting ourselves into, haha! But anyway, she introduced me to this title (just as so many others) and it’s only fair that Hachi gets her credits, haha! Without further ado, our Manga of the Week: Ouran High School Host Club, by Bisco Hatori!
One day, Haruhi, a scholarship student at exclusive Ouran High School, breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to the ‘Host Club’, a mysterious campus group consisting of six super-rich (and gorgeous) guys. To pay back the damages, she is forced to work for the club, and it’s there that she discovers just how wealthy the boys are and how different they are from everybody else.
Why I think it’s a worth-reading manga: BECAUSE IT IS SO FUNNY! I know the title sounds a mouthful (and it is), but you will never stop laughing at this title! You know when people say that money makes people go insane? That’s the case. Poor Haruhi has to endure a bunch of very rich and very crazy boys and they don’t even know that she is a girl! Hahaha! Seriously, just read it and come fangirl with me later, please!!
That’s it, thanks for reading! Have you read the manga or watched the anime for OHSHC??
Hello! Quick late post today, just to recommend a manga for this week! I’m trying to gather a bit of everything that I have already read here on the blog, so today it’s time to show you Nana, by Ai Yazawa!
Nana Komatsu is a young woman who’s endured an unending string of boyfriend problems. Moving to Tokyo, she’s hoping to take control of her life and put all those messy misadventures behind her. She’s looking for love and she’s hoping to find it in the big city. Nana Osaki, on the other hand, is cool, confident and focused. She swaggers into town and proceeds to kick down the doors to Tokyo’s underground punk scene. She’s got a dream and won’t give up until she becomes Japan’s No. 1 rock’n’roll superstar. This is the story of two 20-year-old women who share the same name. Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, they somehow meet and become best friends. The world of Nana is a world exploding with sex, music, fashion, gossip and all-night parties.
Why I think it’s a worth-reading manga: Nana is that kind of shoujo (romance) that stars cute and light and then goes darker with each volume. Secrets, lies, problems, dramas… Everything pops up. It’s not only real life, it’s a sad real life. I admit that I couldn’t keep going with the series after volume 7, as I would open it and immediately started to cry, but Yazawa-sensei’s art is wonderful, just like her plotting skills. If you like a good drama, you have to pick this one up 🙂
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 