Anime Review 6: An Overview

I'd like to go over the main mangas that I have watched / read from the moment I started, up until now. ^^ Basically this is my manga journey. ^w^ Hope you'll enjoy!




I started reading mangas when I was around 7 or 8 I think. My very first manga was Card Captor Sakura. My sister introduced me to that manga. It's a great manga for kids! You follow the life of a young school girl around 9 or 10 years old. But it's no ordinary life, she has a duty: to collect all the Clow Cards. In each card there is a spirit. She needs to capture all the wild cards by using the cards that she already captured: because once she captures a card, she becomes the new master of the card. It's a great adventure story for kids, and I highly recommend it if you have a younger sibling. ^^ (I read all the books and watched all the episodes 100 times. XD)

I wanna be the very best! Like no one ever was! 

To catch them is my real test! To train them is my cause!

Then when I was a tween (meaning between 10 and 13 years old), I was really into Kamichama Karin.



My aunt bought me those books for my birthday.
...
But I'm pretty sure she didn't know what the story was really about. Because if she did... I don't think she would have bought them for me. XD

It's a great manga! It has action and romance, and an interesting story line with many twists and a spectacular one at the end that you really don't see coming!  You start off thinking that it's just a very cute and girly manga for kids, but then once you've finished reading it, you'll realize just how twisted the ending is. You don't realized as much while you're reading it because it's full of action and you're concentrated on the battles, but once you've finished reading it, and start thinking about it, only then do you realized how dark it really was... I can't tell you much of what it's about without spoiling it, but I do recommend it!
The manga is also slightly odd which is why I loved it so much! ^^

I can't find any good videos on youtube, so here is a link to a dailymotion video (it's the opening):
www.dailymotion.com/video/x1uf…
Here is the full version of the song
[link]

However, do NOT watch the Anime! It's crap. If you're going to have a go at it, read the manga! Don't watch it! They completely messed up the anime... It doesn't even start at the right moment! The anime came out WAY after the manga, so the opening to the very first episode is actually the first chapter of the SECOND series! O_O So you get a HUGE spoiler for the WHOLE FIRST SERIES in the first 30 seconds of the anime!
I only like the opening; that's the only good thing they did, the rest is bad! So don't watch it; read it. ^^ The manga is 200% better than the anime! Seriously!



Then I went into my Naruto phase (which lasted quite a long time, haha XD)



Then when I reached my young teenage years I discovered the world of Rumiko Takahashi. Rumiko is the creator of Inuyasha, Ranma and Urusei Yatsura (which are her three most popular mangas of all time). Her most recent one is called Kyoukai no Rinne. ^^


Inuyasha summary: A young junior high-school girl falls into a well and ends up in feudal Japan (500 years in the past) where she has to search for a sacred jewel and meets a few people that become her companions on her long journey. It's a fun adventure manga. ^w^





Ranma 1/2: The manga is called Ranma 1/2 because Ranma can transform into a girl whenever he comes in contact with cold water (and returns to his boy form when he touches hot water). He became like this after falling into a cursed springs at Jusenkyo. Follow his adventures with his wacky family and "uncute" fiancé. It's a cute/funny romantic comedy. 





Urusei Yatsura, which means Those Obnoxious Aliens. XD This manga is for a mature audience, around 15 or 16 years old. Follow the life of a young high school boy called Ataru and his accidental alien wife. Yep. His wife is an alien, and a super hot sexy one too! (who's always in a tiger striped bikini for some reason. XD). (It's a manga from the 70s and 80s might I add. XD It was serialized from 78 to 87). It's a funny nonsensical comedy where you will never get bored!





And here's Kyoukai no Rinne. Only one thing I can say about this manga: it's clearly a mix between Ranma and Inuyasha. XD Irresponsible parents and school life (like in Ranma) and adventure, supernatural (like in Inuyasha). ^^





The Rumiko phase lasted a long time. But then I got to meet new people in my life and made new friends who also like mangas, and I started diversifying what I watched and read. From that moment on I had moved on from my Rumiko obsession and delved into many many more mangas (too many to name).

Among them was Fruits Basket. Probably my favorite shojo manga of all times. It starts off as a cute story but then becomes very intricate and complex. Tohru meets a member of the Sohma family and quickly discovers their curse...
Here's a summary I found: Tooru Honda is a high school freshman who is having a serious bout of misfortune. Not only was she recently orphaned with the tragedy of her mother's death, but she also has no where to live and is currently residing in a tent! However, when her luck to seems to be at its worst, she meets the Souma family, and is invited to stay with them in exchange for taking care of the household chores. But it isn't long before Tooru discovers the Soumas have a deep secret. The family is cursed by the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, and some of the children born into the Souma family are possessed by these spirits. When possessed, they cannot be "huggled" by the opposite sex, or they transform into their respective Zodiac animal!


Ouran Highschool Host Club. XD It's a fun romanic comedy. Summary: Fujioka Haruhi wins a scholarship to attend Ouran Academy, a school reserved for only the most rich and prestigious. Despite what other students may think of her, she cares little for physical appearances or the fact that she is a commoner. Unfortunately for Haruhi, her high school days take a sudden turn when she stumbles upon the Host Club, an elite club filled with super rich and beautiful boys who use their specific traits and charms to entertain young ladies. Even worse, Haruhi accidentally breaks an 8-million yen vase in the club. Since she is unable to repay her debt with money, Haruhi finds herself with no choice but to work for the Host Club, becoming a male host herself.





Seiyuu Ka! was another shojo that I absolutely love! *o* It has a great plot! You follow the story of this girl who wants to become a Seiyuu, which is the Japanese word for Voice Actor; you get to learn a lot about voice acting, which I found really interesting! You guys need to read it, just for that. X3 It has a very touching story too. ^^ (There is a character who's been acting all his life that he lost himself and only knows how to act.)


Hmmmm... Makes you want to become a Seiyuu~!


Here is a compilation of Seiyuus:




Soul Eater, a great shonen! It's so original, I've never seen anything like it! I don't even know how to describe it. XD I mean just look at the opening and you'll see what I mean. XD





Angel Beats! I just love that anime so much! (and I love the soundtrack ^^)
Summary: Otonashi awakens only to learn he is dead. A rifle-toting girl named Yuri explains that they are in the afterlife, and Otonashi realizes the only thing he can remember about himself is his name. Yuri tells him that she leads the Shinda Sekai Sensen (Afterlife Battlefront) and wages war against a girl named Tenshi, also known as the Angel. Unable to believe Yuri's claims that Tenshi is evil, Otonashi attempts to speak with her, but the encounter doesn't go as intended... and she kills him. But you can't really die here, so he just wakes up after a while. ^^ Otonashi then decides to join the SSS and battle Tenshi, but he finds himself oddly drawn to her. While trying to regain his memories and understand Tenshi, he gradually unravels the mysteries of the afterlife.




Letter Bee, in Japanese it's Tegami Bachi. Another interesting shonen. The story takes place in AmberGround, a land of perpetual night only partly illuminated by an artificial sun. Lag Seeing is a newly minted delivery boy, called a "Letter Bee", who worked at the Bee Hive delivery service with his Dingo, Niche, and her "pet", Steak, travelling with him. As a Letter Bee, Lag's job is to deliver letters and packages from town to town while avoiding AmberGround's deadliest hazard—Gaichuu, giant armored insects who attempt to feed off the "heart" that reside within these letters and packages.





Otogi Matsuri, another shonen. It's very hard to find though...
I just love the drawings, I fell in love with the cover (that's what made me buy it. XD I just looked at the cover and thought 'I need this manga, I don't even care what it's about, I love the drawings!' )
Just looked at it:



Bride Stories. It's a historical romance manga that takes place in Turkic Central Asia in a rural town near the Caspian Sea during the late 19th century. You follow different tribal families and their every day life.
I also love the drawings for this one!


All these are only a FEW of the mangas I read / watched. ^^ I can't give you the whole list, it would be way too long. XD




Among the most recent mangas I've seen are A Silent Voice. In Japanese it's Koe no katachi. It's an amazing manga! It has a brilliant storyline: the friendship between a bully boy and a deaf girl. It's so brilliantly done because it portraits the different behaviors and personalities of people extremely well. All the characters have depth, even those who appear for 2 pages.





Ikoku Meiro no Croisée, a historical manga that takes place in 19th century Paris. A young Japanese girl comes to work in Paris. And you get to see the culture shock between these two countries. 





Hetalia, of course! XD Do I even need to explain? XD
Oh alright...
It's a parody of history: each country has a human personification, for example there is the human personification of Japan, Germany, Italy, England, America, France, Canada, Russia, China, and so on. Beware: it's full of stereotypes and some people might find it offensive, but it's very hilarious and is a manga that you should try at least once in your life. ^w^





Attack on Titan, another popular manga. It's an epic post-apocalyptic story where humanity has to fight giant titans in order to survive. It's a lot better than what I make it out to be. XD So go try it out too, if you haven't already!





Mirai Nikki, which means Future Diary. It's a psychological thriller. It's about Yuki, a loner who's not very good with people. He prefers to write a diary on his cell phone and talk to his imaginary friend, Deus Ex Machina – The God of Time and Space. However, Yuki soon learns that Deus is more than a figment of his imagination when he makes Yuki participate in a battle royale with eleven others. The contestants are given special diaries that can predict the future, each diary possessing unique features that give it both advantages and disadvantages. Within the next 90 days, the contestants must try to survive until there is only one left standing. The winner will become the new God of Time and Space.


There is an amazing character in this show who will blow your mind away! (I made a journal about this: Anime Review 5: How to be a Yandere) And the battle scenes are pretty cool too! ^w^ 
If you watch this anime don't forget to watch the OVA at the end, because it's the true ending! ^-^




And finally here is a list of the top 2015 mangas. I've watched some of the mangas on this list already and found them all good! (I finished Plastic Memories recently and I loved it! ^^) So I encourage you to have a go at some of these mangas on this list too!