Otaku Girl: Episode 13

Otaku episodes are really hard to do! I am very sorry I am not able to update the episodes as much as I want.

MANGA: Oresama Teacher

DRAMA: Fugoh Keiji

ANIME: Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko

SONG/VIDEO: Kana Nishino – Go for it! (Full album)

♥♥♥♥♥

MANGA

If there’s a manga I would not mind being made into anime, it is probably this one. Oresama Teacher is a really nice school life story. It talks about how one person can change for the better and how we deal with our darkness.

While this is just comedy gold, the manga has dealt with some pretty serious issues – a person’s image, a person’s past, real friendship, standing up for what is right, taking care of a family legacy, etc.

The story is focused on Kurosaki Mafuyu, a delinquent leader who gets expelled from her school. She transfers to a school far away from her hometown and decides to be a girly-girl on the first day of school to get rid of her old image, but fails. She meets Saeki Takaomi, a school teacher who was her childhood friend, and is probably the reason why she became a delinquent.

Takaomi forms a disciplinary club in hope of doubling the school population, a bet he made with the chairman to get the school property (which is actually his grandfather’s) back. Mafuyu is dragged into the club, as well as her new friend and classmate, Hayasaka.

The student council, headed by the grandson of the school chairman, plots to do everything in their power to stop the club. The story revolves around how the student council members take turns in getting the club to disband.

I love the drawing and the story of the manga! I highly recommend this to everyone!

~~~~~

DRAMA

Among all my Jdrama collection, I have probably seen Fugoh Keiji the most. It has two seasons, but I like Season 1 the most.

The drama is one of the reasons why I am such a big Fukada Kyoko fan. She is just too cute!

The drama is about Kanbe Miwako, a billionaire police officer who uses her grandfather’s riches to solve crimes.

If you guys know me, I like crime stories the most! (See Episode 5 and 6 for Kurosagi – a great crime series too!)

I highly recommend this drama to anyone who wants to see a crime story solved so cutely! MOE~

~~~~~

ANIME

This is a recently completed anime – about last month I think [?]. I enjoyed the anime so much I finished it in a day.

The story is about Yokodera Yoto, a high school boy who is unable to speak out his perverted thoughts. He heard of a rumor that a Stony Cat statue in a the hill of the town will take something you do not need and grant a wish. The night he went to make a wish, he meets Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko, a girl whose wish is for her emotions to not show easily. They get their wishes, but after a day, they are not happy about it and want to take it back. The rule for the wish is what they don’t need the statue would give to someone else so they must now find the person who got the qualities they lost.

I highly recommend this anime to shoujo fans. It is funny as hell. The ending was surprising too.

~~~~~

SONG/VIDEO

I had this single sitting in my laptop for months! How could I ignore Kana Nishino! My favorite is track two, Talk to Me, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Here’s a live version of the main track, Go for It!

This was released in Summer 2012, but it is still a pretty cool summer song. I have been listening to the three tracks in the single for two days now and I have not gone tired of it yet. I highly recommend this to everyone!

That’s it for this episode. Hope you guys like it!

Andy :)

P.S. I planned the episodes so I have until Episode 16 written and ready for publishing. I will be publishing once a week. Until then, ciao!~

Otaku Girl (Episode 13)

Hello again guys! I’m sorry I wasn’t able to write regularly as promised. I was buried with work and school again, and I was looking for a part-time job too. *sigh* Making money is not easy. Anyways, here are my top pick for the week.

Manga: Card Captor Sakura

Drama: Fugoh Keiji Season 1

Anime: Kimi ni Todoke Season 1

Music: Kono Te Nobashite – Hi-fi Camp 

MANGA

The cover of the first volume of the Cardcaptor Sakura manga released by Kodansha on November 22, 1996 in Japan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cardcaptor Sakura is a very popular material from CLAMP. CLAMP produced xxxHolic, Tsubasa Chronicles, CLAMP Detective School and a few other materials. I really like the graphics that CLAMP produces. It’s a really nice well-detailed material with loads of the cutesy stuff!

Anyway, the manga is less popular than the anime counterpart (at least where I live) and I can see the reason why. The anime prides itself with ___ number of episodes. Each episode is made alive in full color which makes the manga counterpart really dull. Nonetheless, the 12 volume manga has basically the same great story line.

Personally, I prefer the manga a notch higher than the anime. The anime has been animated really greatly, but it lacks the depth that the manga provided. Also, the manga has less restrictions with emotions, and while the anime has the puppy-love-ish feel , the manga goes into a more serious mode. More details about this below.

SPOILER ALERT!

If you guys didn’t know the story of CCS. Sakura is a 4^th grader who accidentally opened Clow the Magician’s book of cards setting them free. In order for the cards to not cause chaos, Sakura has to catch them. With the help of Keroberos, a magical being/protector of cards, Sakura catches them. Yuwe, the other protector tests her spirits when she has captured her. Passing the test, Yuwe becomes Sakura’s magical being/protector like Keroberos. Yuwe is actually the alter-ego of Yukito, Touya’s (Sakura’s brother) best friend.

So, onto the romantic connection. Sakura like Yukito a lot. He’s a whole lot older than she is which makes him cool in her eyes. Lee Syaoran, a descendant of Clow who came to compete in capturing the cards, likes Yukito at first, but falls in love with Sakura (I’m like WTH here, you guys are in 4^th grade!). Tomoyo, Sakura’s best friend likes Sakura the most, while Touya and Yukito pretty much like each other. As said earlier, most of these love connections are not evident in any way in the anime.

SPOILER DONE.

THE VERDICT: I liked the manga better than the anime and I like CCS a lot. I watched it like 10x before during my 6^th grade (talk about appropriateness of the anime for my age) which was about 10 years ago. I highly recommend the manga. It’s short and there are some parts which were not discussed in the anime like the fact that Eriol and Sakura’s dad are actually reincarnations of Clow.

 

DRAMA

 

Because of this drama, I am obsessed with Fukada Kyoko! She’s so cute. The direct translation of the title is Millionaire Police. The drama is so addicting especially if you’re a sucker for crime stories like I am.

SPOILER ALERT!

The drama pretty much centers around Miwako Kanbe, the newest police officer. Coming from a millionaire family, she tries to solve each case using luxurious ways. She sets up fake companies, schools, imitates world-class people, etc. Her grandfather is revealed to be a con-man in the past and has acquired all the wealth. Turning a new leaf, her grandfather wants to spend all the money until it’s gone for Miwako’s cases.

SPOILER DONE.

THE VERDICT: I like this drama, and it wasn’t boring until the end. However, the forming love between Miwako (it was unrequited btw – Miwako’s side) and (insert name here) never really got anywhere, which is kind of disappointing. I wanted Miwako to be happy!

 

ANIME

Kimi ni Todoke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kyaaaa!~ Kimi ni Todoke is a enormously awesome anime! Kyaaaaa!~

SPOILER ALERT

The story centers around Kuronuma Sawako, often called Sadako for her straight dark hair and gloomy personality. Kazehaya Shota is the only one nice to her, and it’s because he’s been in love with her ever since the first day of class when he met her by the cherry blossom trees. The story revolves around how Sawako makes friends through Kazehaya’s help. In the first season, it ends with Sawako having two best friends and realizing she has feelings for Kazehaya.

SPOILER DONE!

THE VERDICT: I really like this anime. I think it’s my favorite shoujo anime so far (I’m betting on liking Paradise Kiss anime too, but I haven’t seen it yet). The graphics are well-made and the story is so interesting. I don’t like the ending because it’s a hanging ending, but there is a second season where Kazehaya and Sawako’s romance progress better (will do a review on it next week). I definitely recommend seeing this anime. Both seasons are done so you can watch all the episodes!

 

MUSIC

I am back with my Fairy Tail music obsession! I loved this song too much that I actually looked for more Hi-fi Camp music. They’re a really promising group I think.

Ah~ So we are at the end of another episode. Happy Holidays to everyone. I am hoping to bring more content to you next year so please watch out for it!

Andy :3

Otaku Girl: Episode 12

Ohisashiburi desu ne? I realize it’s been months since the last episode. What was originally meant to be 52 episodes has not barely even touched half. Really sorry about this guys. I guess I was too focused on watching and reading that I totally forgot (okay I was lazy) about blogging. I will try to work harder. Anyway, here’s a list of the materials for episode 12.

Manga: Paradise Kiss

Anime: Chihayafuru

Drama: Paradise Kiss the Movie

Music: Kiyoharu’s Ryusei (whole album review)

 MANGA

First up is manga. In today’s manga feature, we have Paradise Kiss. I really enjoyed this manga. I read it in a day. Although I was really busy with work, I still finished ParaKiss. I was initially interested in this because of the movie. The movie featured the actor Osamu Mukai (George) whose acting I really enjoy. This manga is created by Ai Yazawa.

 

SPOILER ALERT!

The story centers around Yukari, a high school girl who has followed all of her parent’s wishes to study hard. Whenever she misses a perfect score or a high grade, her mother becomes really disappointed (and that becomes her complex). One day, she was invited by Paradise Kiss, a group of four seniors at the Yaza Arts School to be their model for the senior’s recital. They’re actually student designers!

As Yukari agrees to it, she discovers what she wants in life. The love story centers around Yukari and George Koizumi, the main designer of ParaKiss. Yukari finds George attractive and mysterious and so she develops feelings for him. George finds Yukari troublesome and mysterious as well, and he develops feelings for her.

SPOILER DONE

Although I liked the manga a lot because of its intricate design and superb story line, I was really bummed with the ending. I watched the movie first and was expecting the same story line with the happy ending. The ending is quite sad although I do think that it’s closer to what would’ve happened in real life.

THE VERDICT: I recommend this manga to people who like shoujo mangas. I also recommend it to those who like really well-detailed graphics. I don’t recommend this to innocent people who are unaware of the word SEX in this world. There are many obscene scenes and there’s even a scene of a girl’s first time. (I was quite shocked myself, since I don’t read ecchi).

 

ANIME

Next up is Chihayafuru. I really really like this anime! I am quite impatient with on-going anime, but this one had one season done. I’ll do a review on the second season once it airs on January 2013!

SPOILER ALERT!

The story is about karuta, a Japanese game about one hundred poems. Now, not knowing the Japanese culture is quite disadvantageous for watchers of this anime, but I still liked it nonetheless. The poems are by a hundred poets and they are traditional poems memorized by elementary school children. In karuta, the parts of the poems are written on cards and placed down. The aim is to outrun the opponent in touching the card when the first verse of the poem is read.

The story centers around Chihaya. When she was young, she discovered a classmate, Arata, who had the makings of a karuta master. After playing the game with him, she became passionate about playing karuta as well. Arata moved to Fukui and at the death of his grandfather (a karuta master himself), Arata stopped playing.

Chihaya wanted to convince Arata to play again so she takes childhood friend (and a rival of Arata for Chihaya’s affection)  Taichi to form a karuta club in their school. They go through several competitions with the other members.

SPOILER DONE

The graphics are extremely nice (+ there’s Arata who wear glasses [i’m sort of a megane fangirl]). I really like the cute scenes as well. I was disappointed with the hanging ending, but since there’s a second season, I’ll have to wait for the results. As of press time, the manga version is on-going.

THE VERDICT: I highly recommend this manga if you want to learn more about traditional games in Japan. It’s not boring and the romantic element to the story is sorta exciting. I don’t normally like sports-related anime, but Chihayafuru is so addicting, I finished the 25 episodes in 2 (working) days.

DRAMA

Up next is Paradise Kiss the Movie. I discussed the manga, so might as well discuss where my ParaKiss addiction began.

The movie is totally different from the manga. It has the same basic story line of Yukari being obsessed with studies and being recruited by ParaKiss to model for the senior recital. There were many parts however that were changed.

 Primarily, this movie could’ve been viewed by any teenager or even a kid, while the manga has an R-18 restriction due to the sensitive scenes. The movie, however, had very little of this.

I don’t think they made an absolutely bad choice for casting. However, there were several actors in the movie I didn’t like.

George was played by Osamu Mukai (Nodame Cantabile, BECK, Hanamizuki, Hotaru no Hikari 2). Although an extremely talented actor whose charms always capture my heart, I think he was too weakly casted. I imagined George to be quite handsome – someone who would have a blank expression and still look great (TOP of Big Bang [KPOP] comes to mind) and Osamu Mukai looks really charming only when he smiles (or smirks).

Yukari was played by Keiko Kitagawa. I think out of the whole cast, she was the only one who matched Yukari’s character. Hiroyuki Tokumori was played by Yusuke Yamamoto (Tamaki-sama in Ouran). Didn’t like it. Tokumori was really tall (which Yusuke lacked) and handsome. The biggest failure in casting is probably Miwako. In the manga, she has pink hair and she’s sort of a loli. Aya Omasa (Yamato Nadeshiko SH, Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Renai Neet) is really tall and she’s not a cute loli at all. Besides these, I think every other cast was spot on.

THE VERDICT: I liked the movie a lot. I watched it before reading the manga and because the story is really nice, I was convinced to read. I really like the happy ending as well, although as I said earlier, the manga had a more realistic ending. But then, bad casting director.

 MUSIC

Download here

Song List

01 Ryusei

02 The Sun

03 Rally

Last on this episode is Kiyoharu. If you guys didn’t know, Kiyoharu is a Jrock singer. I first encountered him in the soundtrack for Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge anime. He had some really nice songs for the anime. My favorite is “Carnation”.

My favorite in the single is Ryusei. The whole single itself (three songs) is really nice and it’s nice to listen to when you want a lighter mood.

THE VERDICT: Kiyoharu-sama is the best! I recommend his songs. If you like J-rock with a bit of a mellow factor, be sure to listen to Kiyoharu-sama!~

That’s it for this episode. Be sure to check out the Otaku page for a full list of episodes. I will be back again soon. I promise.

Andy-chan :3

 

Otaku Girl: Episode 11

Ohisashiburi~

Oh my God, it’s been two months since I last posted anything. In that span of time, I kind of finished a lot of Jdramas (anime and manga not so much). Anyways, I am really, really sorry you guys, especially to people who have been following these episodes. I tried my best, but I guess work/school took me away from this blog?

Anyway~

1. MANGA: Fairy Tail

2. JDRAMA: Rinjo

3. ANIME: Rave Master

4. SONG/VIDEO: Kanpekigu no ne by Watarirouka Hashiritai (Fairy Tail OST)

MANGA

I started reading the manga version of Fairy Tail. I kind of got upset since they upload every week and I feel like waiting for forever each time. I did not actually start at the very beginning but I started at where the Episode 123 of the anime version was. I was glad I read the manga, because it’s quite different from the anime version. I love both of them, but I prefer watching than reading.

THE VERDICT: Highly recommend this stuff. Hiro Mashima-sensei is a genius. I wish I could meet him. I feel like my life would be complete~

JDRAMA

Image from http://hamsapsukebe.blogspot.com/2010/07/rinjo-season-2.html

I watched this from Red Channel. This is the season 1 of the drama. I actually have never seen the season 2 version of the drama, but it’s the same cast and it’s equally interesting.

Rinjo means “coroner”, or so what they said. Anyways, the story is like mystery-detective-ish. I really like these types of stories (because it is my dream to become a detective or a prosecutor). The story features Kuraishi (played by Takashima Masanobu), who has these “magic eyes”. No detail of a murder or any sort of killing can escape his eyes, and it is always the details that he saw that would solve the case.

I really like his sidekicks, Ichinose and Kosaka too. They have side stories where the cases they handle have some connection with them. I also like how the psychological thing works on the suspects who are the actual killers. Some of the advice from Kuraishi are also really good and can be applied to real life.

THE VERDICT: Yes! Watch this! I will watch season 2 once I get hold of a download site. Man, it’s so hard to find this series even though it was released only in 2010.

ANIME

Image from http://kurisuhanto.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/rave-master/

I rewatched this anime! hooray!

I originally watched this as a kid. However, the channel who showed this anime did not even bother to finish the entire awesome series. This is a work of Hiro Mashima too! I love Mashima-sensei and his works!

It’s amazing that Plue has more appearances here than in Fairy Tail. I love Plue a lot. Rave Master is a story about Haru (trivia: Haru’s name means Spring while Natsu’s name means Summer. totally fits their personalities) who acquired the Ten Commandments sword from the previous Rave Master. In order to save the world from evil forces who have the Dark Bring, he must collect all Rave and defeat their leader.

I haven’t finished this one. I am about 20 more episodes short. I will try to finish this, but I am making no promises.

THE VERDICT: Still 20 episodes or so short, but I highly recommend this. This is one of the best anime produced in the 90s.

SONG/VIDEO

I am so obsessed with the Fairy Tail OST! I have about 5 of them memorized in my head, including Kimi Ga Iru Kara (reviewed here in Episode 7) and Be As One (reviewed here in Episode 10). The new one on my list is Kanpekigu no ne by Watarirouka Hashiritai. I can’t find the official video (which I remember to have watched before) but here’s a dance version.

I love the rhythm of this song. It’s so sunny and bubbly and happy! This is the kind of song to listen to when you are stressed with school and work.. *sigh*

THE VERDICT: Yes! Listen to this! Especially if it’s summer where you live!

That’s it for Episode 11! Watch out for Episode 12. I will try to write them in advance so I can post more frequently in here. Thanks for sticking by and don’t forget to read back on all the other episodes in case you missed them. All of them are filed in the OTAKU page.

Andy :3

 © 2012 ieatspicynoodles.wordpress.com * Images have links and citations

Project 52: Otaku Girl (Episode 10)

I am so freaking busy with school. I have time to finish stuff, but I don’t have time to write about it! Ugh.

1. MANGA: Wanted

2. JDRAMA: Nobuta wo Produce

3. ANIME: Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou

4. SONG/VIDEO: Be As One by w-inds. (Fairy Tail OST)

MANGA

Image from http://www.mangareader.net/1429/wanted.html

I just came across the manga while browsing for good reads. I have basically not into it so much yet because I was very busy the past few weeks. For some reason, work just kept bothering me. With the days of the second semester growing shorter, the work needed to be done increased proportionately.

Anyway, the story centers around a girl named Armelia. When she was little, she sang for the governors and nobles for money. Everybody loved her voice and so they abused it. However, one night one noble stopped her from further singing because he saw that she was tired. This man’s name is Luce. That very same night Luce was kidnapped by pirates. Amelia then swore she would find Luce someday. She then boarded a ship as a guy and found Scar, the Captain. It was then revealed that she was a woman and Scar used to be Luce.

It’s an interesting story. Too bad it only had one volume. If it would have continued, I would have really read it right down to the very last chapter. The manga is written by Hino Matsuri, the same creator for Vampire Knight, which is why Luce looks a lot like Kaname and Armelia looks a lot like Yuuki Cross.

THE VERDICT: Not recommended. Story’s good, but the ending was BLEH.

JDRAMA

Snapshot of Yamapi-kun. Gaaaaaah!~

Gyaaa! I love this Jdrama! Nobuta wo Produce is has the best cast in the world! Who would’ve imagined that the Maki+Yamapi+Kazuya+Eri-chan team would be this good? I honestly love it to bits!

I haven’t finished them episodes, but I think I will the next episode. The story is about two guys (played by Kazuya-kun and Yamapi-kun) who tried to “produce” Nobuta. They make plans on how to make her popular.

THE VERDICT: Yes! You are missing out if you do not watch this anime! Nobuta power!

ANIME

Snapshot of Yuki-onna and Yokai Rikuo. Kawaii~

I finally started Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou. It is the second installment in the Nura Series. The anime is 25 episodes long and I am about halfway through. I love this season because it has more of the yokai Rikuo in it.

The second season settles the score about the death of Rikuo’s dad. The one bad thing about it is that it focuses on one storyline instead of several stories in the entire season.

THE VERDICT: Not done yet, so watch out for it in Episode 11.

SONG/VIDEO

This is the 6th ending song of Fairy Tail. I love this song! It’s really, really, really nice. The singing is so smooth, and it deviates from the usual happy ending of Fairy Tail. I think so far this is the only ballad-ish song out of the entire Fairy Tail song collection. Yay!

THE VERDICT: Recommended. I recommend w-inds. as well. They’re a really nice group. And they have a collaboration with G-dragon. How cool is that?

That’s it for this week. I will try my best to write the more recent episodes as quick as I can. HELP ME. :x

Andy-chan :3

© 2012 ieatspicynoodles.wordpress.com * Images have links and citations