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…?
Good afternoon, peeps! Welcome to my last post for the day =) It’s my disappointing wrap up for February. This was a reaaally slow month for me – I hope to make up for it on March!
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! It’s been a while, haha! I was taking a look on my last posts and I realized I didn’t post a wrap up on SUCH A LONG TIME =O I mean, ok, I don’t post at all in a long time, but not even on my last active month blogging, I don’t post a wrap up since June, oops! Haha!
Well, I’m going to totally ignore the books I bought during this time, focusing on the ones I have read and how I’ll try to review them all 🙂
JUNE WRAP UP
BOOKS
I’ve read 15 books and 3 mangas on June – I know, pretty low comparing to April and May, ugh! My job stole a lot of my reading time besides all of my energy, haha!
Jackass! – Sawatte Ii tte Dare ga Itta yo?, by Scarlet Beriko
JULY AND AUGUST WRAP UP(so far)
July and August weren’t my months to live, so it’s to be expected that they weren’t my reading months either. This is all that I have read until today and I don’t trust myself to finish more books until the end of August – one day at a time, right? Hahaha!
The Fox and The Grapes (childhood fairy tale)
A Frozen Heart, by Elizabeth Rudnick
Melophobia, by James Morris
Wonder, by R. J. Palacio
Emma, by Jane Austen
Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, by Martina McAtee
Weekend Lovers, by Kiriko Fuwa (manga)
The Journalists – Disney Comic Book Special
Two Pokémon Guides on Pokémon Alpha Sapphire & Omega Ruby
Yup, from the very same person with 20 books read in the same month, we now have 5 in two months. I’m such a winner. #sarcasm
What I’m currently reading? I’m trying to rule out my started books from “before” all this. I’m missing only 100 pages until the end of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I just started Dark Dreams and Dead Things – which, so far, is not doing any justice to the first book – and I’m on the middle of Frankenstein. I’m reading the last one with Jess from Mud and Stars, so I can say with ease that this one I shall finish until the end of the month, haha! Btw, do you guys know Jess, right? If you don’t, well, please go follow her. She is BRILLIANT, both as a blogger and as a person ❤ Love you, Jess!! *–*
Well, now, you may be wondering: “hmm, so many books, Annelise! What about the reviews?”. Good question. What about the reviews.
Honestly? I will first review books that were sent to me and then books from my book club with Jess. Then, I’ll try to review all the others. If for some reason the fate allows me to succeed, I’ll review the mangas. If that also goes according to plan, I will review the comic books. Deal? 🙂
Oh, but of course that you can totally ask me for specifically reviews inside this list! I want you to guys to be as happy as I am trying to be, haha! ❤
That’s it for now. I won’t make any promises, as this didn’t go well in the past, but I’ll be around, haha! What have you been reading on those past few months? 😀
Hi, there! I’m alive after a very unproductive Saturday – Jess, from Mud and Stars, can testify that, haha!
Anyway, it’s time for a tag and lovely Victoria, from Addlepates and book nerds, nominated me to the Dragon’s Loyalty Award 😀 Thanks so much, dear! It’s my first time receiving it and I’m beyond happy, haha!
(x) Display the award on your blog and announce your win with a post;
(x) Link the blogger who awarded you;
(x) Present six deserving blogs with the award and link your awardees in the post and let them know of their being awarded;
(x) Write seven interesting things about you.
Seven interesting (?) facts about me
1) I just started to work again after a year break to finish college and put my health back on track 🙂 I’m enjoying it a lot and hope to stay there for a while, as I like my clients and my co-workers!
2) I’m totally not a movie person. I always have déjà vu feelings when I read movie synopsis and I never was much of a movie watcher to say that I’ve “seen it all”. I’m okay with tv shows, though. I like to marathon them all at once, because if I stop, I will pick it up again only months – OR YEARS – after. Also, I have an extreme difficulty in ending them for this reason. In 21 years, I’ve only finished watching the classic Scooby Doo season, The Little Mermaid tv series from Disney, and I Dream of Jeannie. Btw, I finished I Dream of Jeannie last month, so yay for me, haha! Now I’m hell bent on finishing Bewitched. I started it all over again and am on the middle of the second season – work got in the way of this plan, but I’ll be watching more episodes tonight, for example 🙂
I Dream of Jeannie ❤
3) I’m a linguistics nut. If I could, I’d learn all the languages in the world. I currently only speak Brazilian Portuguese and English fluently unfortunately, but I’m working on my French now – I’m learning by myself for now, but I think I’ll enter a proper course on the next semester 🙂 My top priority languages to learn after mastering French include German, as I’m a German descendent, Japanese, as I HATE to depend on online translators and editors to read the titles that I want, and Russian just for the fun of knowing it, haha!
4) I’m a sucker for gay romance and gay manga. I’m often asked whether I’m a homosexual myself, but it’s not the case. Actually, I’ve never had sexual desire towards any real living person, be it a girl or a boy. I recognize their beauty, but I have no desire to touch or be touched. I’ve only fell truly in love once and it was for a boy, in my last year of high school. Complications aside, I’ve never once felt the need of kissing him or even touching him. However, as he was sort of in love with my best friend, I admit I didn’t put an effort on this and, ever since, I haven’t truly fallen for anyone else. I tried to fall for one of my best male offline friends, but that didn’t really work out either – his fault for not making the effort of going out with me even as friends, haha! So yeah, I’m heterosexual that lives desire through fictional gay men. Totally natural, yeah.
5) My 22th Birthday is on August 12th of this year and I don’t know how to feel about it. You see, this week I found a very white hair among my dark blonde others and I still sport the same face that I had when I left high school at 17, so I don’t feel like 22. I also still need to take my driver’s license, so I guess that helps me not to feel as I’m not a teen anymore. Even with my college being proudly over with all the stars and all and working since I turned 18, I feel froze in time. I’m not saying that I wish to look older, but I wish I could feel older. I wish I could feel like 22 and not like I’m still 17. But oh well, at least I get some funny jokes from my friends on the matter. I’m often called a vampire because of my never aging face and the fact that I tend to oversleep during the day given the chance – my regular sleep time if allowed is of at least 10 hours. My personal record is 18 hours of uninterrupted sleep, oops!
6) I have a small Lhasa Apso called Lady that is one of the beings that I love the most. She’s a stubborn and lazy girl, but she seems to have a sixth sense that never fails to alert her if I’m not feeling well or if I’m upset. She hates taking pictures, but I pretend I don’t know that, haha!
7) I love to travel, but I haven’t been getting many opportunities to do so, especially to new places. I do have to travel to visit my family, but that results in always going to the same places. My goal for the next year is to travel to a new place, let’s see how that will unfold, haha!
Hmm, that post ended up being way more personal than I intended it to, but oh well. Sorry guys, thanks for indulging my reflections, haha!
I nominate…
So, the people that most comment on my blog are:
My lovely friend Vinnie, which has a wonderful sense of humor and an endless patience with me, as I tend to read his blog posts all at the same time from month to month, haha! Sorry, darling, know that I love your blog even with the lateness of my comments 🙂 If you guys like movies, go follow him! He writes the BEST MOVIE REVIEWS EVER!
My best online friend Jess, from Mud and Stars, that not only tolerates me on WordPress, but also on Twitter, haha! Thanks for spending time with me whenever you can and for indulging me on book club ❤ Her blog is as amazing as she is and that’s saying a lot, trust me. So go follow her, haha! Love you, Jess!
My online bff Jeany, from JeanyJanez ❤ Thanks so much for always stopping by and always having something nice to say, dear! Also, thanks for being my friend ❤ If you guys like music and books, you need to follow Jeany!
My awesome kick-ass bff Mandy, from The Reading Diaries, that is someone that I admire from the bottom of my heart. She has endless patience with me on Instagram, pops up in here whenever she can and is awesome pretty much 24/7. If you like books, DIY projects and cooking, you have to follow Mandy! I’m sure she’s one of the best cooks in the USA!
My offline best-friend Jenny, who insists on reading my blog when she should be writing her dissertation and for that, I’m very proud of her ;D Thanks, twin!
My new-found blogger friend, Amanda, from the Cover2CoverMom. In those few months that I’ve known her, I can already tell you that she is one of those precious people that you keep in your heart and I’m really grateful to have met her ❤ Also, her blog is terrific, go follow her!
You guys don’t need to do this award, I just wanted to say how much you all mean to me! Also, thank you that is reading this too! *–*
And that’s the end of an unnecessary long post, haha! How is your weekend so far? 🙂
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
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
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 