Impression: Please Save My Earth 9

Volume 9 continues the Moon Scientists story through the eyes of Shion.

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Summary

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Shion's recollections continue this volume; from his last days at school to his assignment and arrival at the Moon Base.

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My Thoughts

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I bet no one thought I could ever make my summary so short, but here it is, a single sentence. I guess it's much easier to do it here because it's all recollections. :P

Shion continues to fascinate me this volume, although he can be quite the egocentric jerk. Still, something about the way Hiwatari-san wrote his character makes him quite sympathetic. I personally think it has a lot to do with his inner monologues as we are given a window into why he does what he does.

Mokuren finally makes a bigger appearance this volume, although it's all through the perspective of Shion. Knowing that Hiwatari-san can write interesting characters, I'm awfully curious why Mokuren does and says what she does and I'm really hoping it's not just because she's a sweet little thing (if that does turn out to be the case, I will be really disappointed). I really hope we get a look into her head too. The biggest points I wonder about are why she smiled when she was right about to cry (and doesn't tell Shion off for being the jerk he is to her) and the supposed "happiness and preference" that Shion ascribes to her upbringing in Paradise. I honestly think Mokuren might have had a less sugary childhood than Shion thinks precisely because Hiwatari-san made Shion dwell on this. Hopefully we shall find this out later when we get a look into Mokuren's head. Yes, I will be thoroughly disappointed if we don't get a look at things from Mokuren's perspective.

Also, I was quite surprised Shion made me chuckle this volume when he and Gyokuran were discussing whether they should say something to Mokuren about her nude stroll. It was priceless, the things Shion said. haha. I hope we get more of these little bits of humour.

Other than that, it was an interesting volume in general because it gave us a look into what was happening on the Moon Base. I'm looking forward to volume 10.

~Joanna

Impression: Please Save My Earth 8

This volume finally gives us a look into the enigmatic Shion.

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Summary

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Haruhiko manages to deflect the blast from Rin, but when he begs him to spare the others, Rin furiously reminds him that he has no obligation to do that for someone who never kept his promise and proceeds to beat Haru up. Mikuro tries to stop him and the resulting collision of mental powers causes a great explosion, which sets the temple on fire.

Mikuro and Haru escape with minor injuries, but Rin isn't so lucky. Mikuro explains that it is because Rin's power was much stronger, and because it was different than his own, each of their powers rebound back at them. Compounding this, jumping back to Tokyo, like Rin did, would only worsen his injuries.

Meanwhile, Alice hears about Rin's hospitalization from her mother and both of them hurry to the hospital. They learn from the doctor that while Rin is ok, his injuries were grave and they do not match with being hit by a car. Alice later volunteers to stay by Rin's side when his father can't make it. When she comes, Rin's mother confesses to her that she feels as if Rin is no longer her son and asks if this is because she is tired. Alice is amazed at how well Rin's mother is able to understand what has happened to Rin without knowing anything.

Rin, other the other hand, has delved even further into Shion's psyche and is now experiencing Shion's entire life from his young childhood on the war torn Moon Tess, where he had to kill to survive until he was picked up and sent to the planet Shia to live in a Sarjalimian Monastery to his short stay with Lazlo, his foster father, and Kyaa. Then the memories shift due to Rin momentarily waking up and we are introduced to a slightly older Shion, who is now attending a boarding school though a state sponsored scholarship. During this time we are also introduced to Gyokuran, who seems to have known Shion since they were children, and Shiukaido, who has recently transferred to Gyokuran and Shion's school. Later Shiukaido asks Shion why he insists that Gyokuran hates him and Shion tells him that everyone has a dark side but Gyokuran would rather die than let others know about it. Shion then recalls how Gyokuran invited him over to his home when they were younger and paraded around his family. This event seems to have been the cause of Shion's resentment toward Gyokuran. --End of Volume Eight.

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My Thoughts

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This was a very interesting volume and I am simply amazed at the level of sophistication that Hiwatari-san has painted Shion. The boy is clearly troubled by his lack of parents, of love and he clearly still has scars from his time on war torn Tess leading to much cynicism. For example, Shion is greatly affected by seeing Gyokuran's family; not only because he really wants one, but also because he feels that Gyokuran brought him over out of pity. My interpretation of Gyokuran's action is two-fold: yes, at the core there must have been some pity there, but it also looked like Gyokuran wanted Shion to have some fun at his house. He simply brought a friend over; it looked to me that Gyokuran was oblivious to how Shion left. Another example was when Gyokuran defended Shion and cried afterwards about his bullying. Shion didn't understand why he was crying, but again, Gyokuran felt pity but also I think frustration and sympathy (he says to Shion: "Why don't you say something back to them!? I...I can't stand how they treat you...!"). I personally feel that if it was just pity, the young Gyokuran would simply say: "it's not fair how they treat you" and leave it at that. But he genuinely seems to care and sympathize with Shion and thereby showing frustration that the other boy isn't standing up for himself. How does this factor into Shion? Well Shion is cynical; he can't seem to believe that Gyokuran would feel anything but pity for him, that coupled with his jealousity of Gyokuran's love and family leads to much anminosity toward Gyokuran....which seemingly Gyokuran doesn't notice or doesn't want to notice.

What makes me curious is that Enju and Shusuran imply that Shion is right about Gyokuran: that this is all an act for Gyokuran. Shusuran stated that Gyokuran is a "slime ball" and only acts good because he's too cowardly to do otherwise and Enju affirms this by saying she also likes that about him. Yet, it doesn't appear to be an act, at least not all of it. So I really do hope Hiwatari-san gives us a look into Gyokuran too. I would love to see his side of the story. :)

~Joanna

Impression: Please Save My Earth 7

Volume seven continues the enchanting story-telling of volume six.

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Summary

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In volume seven Alice comes to the Moon Dreamers meeting, but she can't seem to add anything to the discussion, which prompts Sakura to doubt she is Mokuren. Jinpachi defends her, but the meeting goes no where.

When heading back on the train, Alice tries to talk to Rin, but he screams at her saying he hates her. This causes Alice to stop dead in her tracks. We are then taken back to Alice's childhood, where she lost friends for no reason she could discern.

Rin calls Haruhiko for another meeting where he tells him to keep Alice busy and away from the Moon Dreamer meetings. When Haru asks why, Rin tells him that he doesn't want Alice remembering things at random. Haru then comes to the realization that he is a pawn in Shion's game against Gyokuran for Alice's affection and that he is currently the stop in place keeping Alice and Gyokuran from getting closer.

Fed up, Haru asks if "M" is also someone Rin is using to keep him in check. This, however, turns out to be wrong, and Haruhiko has now unknowingly given Rin information about his allies. Haru then realizes that "M" must be helping him with Mr.Tamura and that his letter did get to him. Riddled with guilt, Haru desperately tries to jump to Kyoto, but his heart cannot take the strain and he faints.

Meanwhile Rin sends a love letter to Takashi asking him to meet him at the Renmyo Temple at 6 o'clock.  One of Tamura's men intercepts the letter and lets Tamura know. Rin also calls Tamura telling him to bring "M".

Tamura arrives at the temple and "M" comes a little later. When "M" arrives, a psychic battle between him and Rin commences. Unfortunately, Rin has the upper hand and just as he is about to blast "M" and Mr.Tamura, Haru appears in front of the blast. Leaving us with a nice cliff hanger.

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My Thoughts

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Well I have finally gotten the characterization I was asking for with Alice. The flashback, while a mere 5 or so pages, gave me such a rich understanding of her. Her meekness and lack of confidence make perfect sense now. I've actually grown to sympathize with her now, whereas in other manga with similar characters, I cannot stand them. Characterization is an important element in getting the reader to sympathize with characters, especially those with unlikable traits; at least that is what I strongly believe. And with that little tease, I am looking forward to what Hiwatari-san can do with more back story. I hope Jinpachi and Mokuren are next since these two have very little inner monologue or what, in Jinpachi's case, he has had, it was rather shallow.

And is Rin ever evil, but I can't bring myself to hate him. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because I know it's Shion and those 9 years that are affecting him, and maybe it's also because he's so young and my maternal instincts are acting up. Well, whatever it is, I just can't seem to hate his character, even though he's such a villain! Poor Haru, he can't seem to get any slack. He was quite noble, doing what he did after his heart attack.

Also, I find it cute how Sakura still feels loyal to Enju and gets angry at Jinpachi and Alice. I think I may just ship these two together~ Issei and Sakura complement one another really well too. :3

The cover of this volume is rather plain: just a frontal portrait of Rin, but it's still quite nice. I am looking forward to the next volumes. Please Save My Earth has been picking up a lot of steam!

~Joanna

Impression: Please Save My Earth 6

Volume 6 picks up the slack of volume 5 and I find myself engrossed in the story once more.

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Summary

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Rin decides to cancel his engagement to Alice, which causes Alice to make sure he is ok. When the two of them talk alone, Rin speaks oddly, stating in his dreams he is alone once more.
Furthermore, Rin's teacher notices the boy has exceptional talent. He shows Rin's mother a poem he wrote and tells her that not matter how one looks at this poem, it cannot be one an eight year old would write.

Meanwhile the other Moon dreams are becoming suspicious of "Shion" after Rin tells them he broke off his engagement to Alice due to "Shion"'s insistence. During the meeting they recollect that they had some passwords for the Moon Base and the general events that happened during their last days on the Moon Base.

Later, Jinpachi confronts Haruhiko about Rin's cancellation of his engagement to Alice. Naturally, Haruhiko has no idea what Jinpachi is talking about and gets up to leave. When Jinpachi holds him back, Haruhiko slaps him and tells him to "try being me and see how you like it".

Back at Kyoto, Mr.Tamura gets a call from Hokuto saying that his mother wants to meet up with him. During their meeting, Hokuto's mother talks about her other son, Mikuro, who also has ESP. After she finishes her story, she asks Mr.Tamura not to forget that "S" may be in need of his help as well.

At their next meeting, Daisuke has come up with a rough outline of what happened during their previous lives. Using the outline, the others begin to fill in the missing information and recall how Mokuren was a special "Kiche Sarjalian" and she performed a special dance and song at all national holidays.

The next day at school, Jinpachi tells Issei that the tree by the window where Alice sings has grown a lot. Issei agrees with him and Jinpachi says they must convince Alice to come back to the Moon Dreamers meetings. Issei says he has school council duties, so it falls on Jinpachi to convince her. Jinpachi passes Alice in the hallway and calls to her that she doesn't have to ignore him and apologizes for his previous behavoir. He tells Alice he knows why the Ginko tree by the music room has been looking really healthy and has been growing and asks her to come back to the meetings. Alice agrees to come back to the meetings.

Meanwhile, Haruhiko is at an aquarium, while recollecting his life as Shukaido, a stranger bumps into him. The stranger hands him a book and leaves. Inside the book he finds a warning about teleportation.

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My Thoughts

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Last volume was rather slow as I noted, but volume six really picks up the pace. Truth be told, volume 5 was partly to blame for me taking so long to get to volume six. While five was by no means bad, it wasn't as attention grabbing as some other manga at the time, which caused me to shift my priorities to other titles. I do regret that now, since volume six has shown me why I fell in love with this series in the first place: the story telling is solid; Hiwatari-san moves seamlessly between the past on the Moon and the present on Earth, she gives us bits and pieces of the story on the Moon, which only increased my curiosity without showing me everything at once and thus keeping me in suspense. Likewise, the character development was really good this volume as we get to see more of Issei's inner turmoil and we finally get a look into Sakura/Shusuran, but most importantly, we get to see behind Rin's mask for once and learn some more about the other Moon Scientists.

Issei is currently my favourite character. I love how he struggles against his past, and just in general he is quite likeable. Rin, although not my favourite, is quickly becoming my reason for reading Please Save My Earth. I'm genuinely intrigued with his demons and how he appears to be walking a thin line between sanity and insanity. I currently don't hate any of the characters, although I do wish Alice, Diasuke, and Jinpachi would get stronger characterizations. Alice, in particular, really needs it since she is suppose to be the main character.

I was surprised that in one of the side notes, Hiwatari-san wrote that people are calling Haruhiko a cry baby. I'm not a fan of frail characters, but Haruhiko isn't really frail, he's acting quite strongly for the situation he is in. He cries because of everything happening in his life. It's basically being torn apart for mistakes he didn't do (his past self did them) and he has no one to give him moral support. It's kind of hypocritical really, since Alice isn't being called a cry baby but she was crying through volume 1 and 2 because of what happened to Rin (in a situation similar to Haru's, where she had little moral support with the whole school against her and Rin's family despising her). And just like with Haru, I think they both reacted realistically and strongly for the situation they were in. *Sigh* And people think I'm hard on characters. I'm actually not too hard so long as the characters act with some realism (also known as, characters have common sense that *most* people have).

Ah, but I'm rambling off track now. So I'll just conclude this with saying that volume six of Please Save My Earth really impressed me and I am looking forward to reading volume seven. :)

~Joanna

Impression: Fushigi Yugi 9

With volume nine, I have hit the half point of the story. Like last time, I'm going to try and keep the summary short with more focus on my own reactions to the story.

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Summary

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Volume nine beginning with Nuriko's funeral, after which the remaining warriors head inside the cave. Once inside, they discover that the Shentso-Pao is guarded by two of Genbu's warriors. Unfortunately for the Suzaku warriors, these two are ghosts and cannot be defeated. It is then that Miaka steps up and begs the two to let her pass. They agree so long as Miaka can prove she is indeed the Priestess of Suzaku.

The test involves Miaka overcoming the ice powers of the two warriors. And just when all hope is lost and Miaka is fully frozen, thoughts of Nuriko awaken his bracelets that Miaka is wearing, and Miaka bursts forth, out of the ice. Having proven that she is indeed the Priestess, the Genbu warriors present her the Shentso-Pao.

But before they can celebrate, a giant wolf steals the Shentso-Pao right out of Miaka's hands as she is leaving the cave and brings it to Nakago. Nakago confirms it is Ashitare, whose wolf blood has taken over after his human death, and promptly kills him.

Miaka, depressed, runs off again and Tai-Yi-Jun appears before her. When Miaka asks for her help in getting the Shentso-Pao back, Tai-Yi-Jun suggests the bedding technique to disrupt Nakago's chi. Miaka, confused, asks how she can have sex when the Priestess must be a virgin. Tai-Yi-Jun laughs that she lied and that it was just a precaution against love disrupting the quest. She confirms this by pointing to Yui, who was raped. After Tai-Yi-Jun leaves, Miaka decides she wants to try it since Nuriko gave his life for the Shentso-Pao. Meanwhile, Tai-Yi-Jun appears in front of the Suzaku warriors and tells them that she is taking care of Miaka and tells them to go on ahead to the southern city where the second Shentso-Pao lies.

When Miaka makes it to Nakago's camp, it appears he has been expecting her. He confirms this and tells her that the Tai-Yi-Jun she saw was a fake created by one of Sieryu's warriors. He then proceeds to have his way with her, which he states will remove any chance she has to summon Suzaku. When Miaka asks about Yui, Nakago, with glee in his eyes, tells Miaka she was never raped. He saved her before anything happened but she is convinced she was violated.

Meanwhile, Tamahome has an ill feeling and decides to head back to check on Miaka. After he finds her, the two of them do not know how to react with what just happened. Eventually Tamahome tells Miaka that she looks just as pure as ever and that nothing could ever tarnish her. After a loving embrace and maybe more (it is not certain since nothing is shown explicitly), Miaka decides that she has to run away once more because she is unworthy of both Tamahome and summoning Suzaku.

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My Thoughts

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Well, this was certainly a very dramatic and tense volume. I sort of found it strange that it is titled Lover, given what happens to Miaka...but maybe the editor was aiming for the final chapter. Just, personally, I find it rather ironic that the subtitle is "Lover" when Miaka gets raped...supposedly. Yeah, I have my doubts. I mean, we know the good girl wins in the end and I have a vague idea that Tama (Tamahome's real world counterpart) was created through Miaka's wish...so if the virgin deal is real, then nothing happened and it was more a psychological attack on Nakago's part. Plus this is a shoujo series and I have yet to encounter one where the main character is actually raped. Lots of shoujo series come close, (probably to amp up the drama) but none cross the line, and I cannot see this being different.

Half the volume was actually pretty good, until the ill-fated rape scenes (nothing is shown, mind you, only implied). I've got nothing against depicting rape, but it seemed to me that it was included just to amp up the drama, and that sort of annoys me. But maybe I'm wrong and volume 10 will confirm that Miaka was actually raped, who knows?

I actually wasn't annoyed that Miaka believed the fake Tai-Yi-Jun. It was a perfect trap. And it was honourable of her to try and do something herself, even if it wasn't well thought out (she knows she has no sexual experience, so how is she suppose to seduce Nakago??? She even doubts she can do it while heading there, so I just don't understand why she thought she could do something...ah shoujo heroines, so stupid sometimes.) No actually the part that annoyed me the most was Miaka running away, yet again. She showed a little character growth/maturity with the Genbu test, but yet again it's all discarded and she reverts back to her weak emotional self. Where is the brave talk of doing this for Nuriko? Now, when more then ever she needs to be strong, she caves in and runs away. Agh! When will we finally get some character growth out of this heroine?! But I guess I shouldn't expect much out of someone that needs to be told what to do (i.e. Tamahome needs to tell her that grieving now will waste Nuriko's sacrifice.)

Honestly, I'm not trying to hate on her....I'm really trying to give her the benefit of the doubt and trying to be realistic....but I can't help but wish for a stronger heroine. I guess that's just the kind I like, since I've never been one to depend on others for everything the way some of these shoujo heroines do.

But enough about Miaka, time to talk about Tamahome. Is he ever unrealistic. I mean, your girlfriend has been raped, and you're totally fine with it? I'm not saying he should be disgusted by her, I'm saying he should be confused. Confused as how to react, how to comfort her...but nope, Tamahome is like a sage, he knows exactly what to say and do. It's sort of ridiculous. Gah, I know I know, it's shoujo and it's suppose to be idealistic love, but it just takes me out of the story when a character acts so unnaturally. Personal taste I guess, but I dislike idealistic depictions of love. The cynic in me sneers at them.

So I bet you're thinking, if you hate the main leads so much, why the hell do you bother reading this anyway? Especially since I've dropped other manga for the exact same reasons. Well, it's because, while Miaka and Tamahome do annoy me from time to time, I haven't yet learned to loathe them like Hatsumi and Ryuko from Hot Gimmick, and the secondary characters are actually likeable. But the biggest reason is that the story is still engaging; I'm still interested in Nakago's goal, whether Yui or Miaka will summon their god first, what will happen to the fictional world, and just whether there is more to the Universe of the Four Gods than has been laid down so far. So for these reasons, I'm willing to continue reading even if there are a few weak volumes, like seven, and the main leads make me roll my eyes from time to time. So yes, I'm still looking forward to volume 10.

~Joanna

Impression: Fushigi Yugi 8

Impression: Boys Over Flowers 12

The roller coaster relationship between Tsukushi and Tsukasa continues in this volume once more. I, surprisingly, haven't gotten bored of it yet.

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Summary

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Volume 12 begins with the conclusion to the Miss Teen Japan contest. Tsukushi has somehow made it to the finale, through sheer luck and perseverance, and now faces against her rival, Ayano, in the final challenge.

Unfortunately, the final challenge is to play with a group of children, and Ayano garners all the attention of the children in one quick sweep by playing the piano.

Tsukushi is left dumb-founded, shuffling through toys, until she notices a group of four boys that remind her of a certain other group of four boys. The four boys start a fight with Tsukushi and she retalitates by challenging them to a series of games, which she all wins. While she looks absurd doing so, it eventually garners the attention of the other children, leaving Ayano struggling to keep the remaining children with her. Being good natured, Tsukushi calls Ayano over to help her with jump rope, which shocks her, but she accepts Tsukushi's invitation with a smile and utters to herself that she finally understands why Seinosuke fell in love with Tsukushi.

When the challenge ends, the announcer asks the children to choose who the liked playing with more. The children, however, break down into tears and refuse to choose one girl. The judges then announce that the winner will be decided based on points. Ayano wins but Tsukushi also gets a special recognition prize of 300, 000 yen (around 3,000 US).


Afterwards, Tsukushi quickly runs out to meet Kin-san (Seinosuke), who is still waiting for her answer. While she tells him she does not love him, she cannot answer his inquiry whether she love Tsukasa. She admits that when it comes to Tsukasa, her feelings are a mixed jumble. Kin-san takes all this with a smile and leaves Tsukushi saying that if she ever need some help, she can call on him.

Later, the F4, Tsukushi, and Kazuya all celebrate Tsukushi's special recognition. Tsukasa stares at Tsukushi earnestly, which leads her to remember his request. Tsukasa had asked Tsukushi to spend Christmas with him to repay him the rest of the money, 700,000 yen. However, the more Tsukushi thinks about the request, the less she looks forward to it. She questions just what Tsukasa is thinking, buying her for a day, and whether he expects that she to anything and everything.

On the day of their date, however, Ryu, the leader of the children's F4 shows up and asks to spend the day with Tsukushi. When she asks him to spend it with his mom and dad because she is busy, the little boy tears up and states his parents are away on business. With nothing else to do and as a measure against Tsukasa's advances, Tsukushi brings Ryu along on their date. While Tsukasa is visibly annoyed, Tsukushi manages to convince him to allow Ryu to join by reminding him that he had the same sad experiences as a child.

The day goes good and Tsukasa even shows off a fatherly side by holding up Ryu to see the elephants at the zoo, but everything is ruined when Ryu, asleep, accidentally pees on Tsukasa, and the latter tosses the former into the air. Tsukushi manages to catch the falling Ryu, but she loses all patience with Tsukasa and the two leave in a rather, stand-off-ish way.


When Tsukasa gets home, he makes it abundantly clear just how angry he is and the other F4 members wonder if the two of them will ever hitch up. Sojiro, however, hatches a plan to get them back together. Basically, he and the other F4 member, Rui and Akira, come to the dango shop Tsukushi works at and attempt to sell the dango by sweeting the deal with a kiss from Akira. They manage to sell out the whole stock and Tsukushi and Yuki get 500, 000 yen in commission. Tsukushi, uncomfortable, refuses to take the money because she did not earn it. The boys suggest that she and Yuki then use it to come with them on their Canada ski tour. Yuki is ecstatic, but Tsukushi flat out denies the invitation stating that she cannot leave her family in the state they are in. The boys tell her to think it over and to give her final answer in six days.


While discussing the issue with Yuki at a cafe, the three crones, aka Yuriko Asai's group, overhear them and decide they cannot let Tsukushi keep the F4 to herself. On her way home, Tsukushi admits that we would like nothing more than to travel overseas, but she is too proud to ask Tsukasa to go to his villa after the fight they had. When she gets home, her parents inform her that her father has found another job so she won't have to work as hard. The phone then rings and Tsukasa screams through the receiver that Tsukushi cannot come and that he won't go if she goes. Tsukushi, now really angry, yells back that the others invited her and that she will be going.

When Yuki hears the news, she is ecstatic. On the day of the departure, Yuriko's group shows up and asks for Tsukasa. Rui points out that he will be going there in his own private air plane, much to the shock of Tsukushi. And that is it for volume 12.

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My Thoughts

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Where to start? I really liked the cover of volume 12. It's not the best cover out there, but I liked how the two leads both looked angry while dancing which, to me, looked like a visualization of their romance. The dance is their romance, since just like when dating it involves two people, and while dancing, they both look displeased, which is what they both usually feel when they are together.

As for the actual volume, I felt like I was see-sawing along with Tsukushi. The Miss Teen Japan plot was pretty well concluded and I liked that Kamio-san did not give us a crop out win for Tsukushi. The date, however, was where my mixed feelings began. At first, it seemed like Tsukasa was finally starting to move out of his jerk phase only to rebound back into it. In this volume in particular, his immaturity was pretty extreme: he couldn't tell Tsukushi how he felt and in turn got angry at her because she brought it up and his anger culminated in his tossing up of Ryu. At that point, just like Tsukushi, I had lost all patience for him and I was back to wishing Tsukushi would just give up on him and move one (although that would be boring, wouldn't it. ;] ). Thankfully, she didn't get back with him this volume and I think her "I won't take this shit" attitude keeps me coming back to Boys Over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango. I'm sort of torn about them as a couple though, just like Tsukushi, since at one moment he appears to be a respectable nice guy, but the next he's throwing tantrums and demanding everything be his way or nothing.

That aside, I'm still enjoying the story and just Tsukushi, herself, makes reading the manga worthwhile. I especially liked that she had some pride and wouldn't accept going to Tsukasa's resort until he had the gall to call her up and tell her not to come. I enjoy seeing her not take his antics lying down...unlike some other shoujo heroines. Tsukasa's vainglorious displays, like riding his own plane, are also amusing. Overall, it was a pretty good read and I look forward to future volumes.

~Joanna

Impression: Claymore 1

The first volume of a great epic. It starts out a little slow yet still interesting, and continuously gains momentum with each passing volume until it sucks you into the story and doesn't let go.

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Summary

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In the world of Claymore, there are monsters called Yoma that prey on humans and avoid detection by taking on a human appearance. The only way to exterminate a yoma is to request a Claymore, special warriors that take on the flesh of yoma but keep their human minds, to detect and exterminate them. One such village requests a warrior and a young boy, curious, follows the female warrior around.

Much to his surprise, she seems like a normal girl, and he introduces himself as Raki. The girl, however, refuses to tell him her name, and only leaves him with a cryptic message, "You'll forget about me soon enough."

Perplexed, the boy rushes home to make dinner, only to find his uncle a victim of the yoma. It turns out this yoma, who ate his parents, also ate his older brother to take on his appearance and remain undetected. Raki unable to fend off the monster himself is just about to get eaten when the unnamed Claymore jumps in through the window and disposes of the monster.

Raki, however, becomes incredibly terrified of the warrior as she becomes very yoma-like during the battle due to using the monster's power inside her. Huddled in a corner, terrified, the villagers assure him to just forget everything that happened. And then, when he hears those words, Raki finally understands why the Claymore warrior said what she did to him. Angry with himself, he rushes after her and thanks her for killing the yoma and asks once more for her name. The warrior continues walking but tells him her name, Clare.

Clare continues on with her work, heading this time to a town plagued with multiple yoma. Meanwhile, Raki is kicked out of his village because of his close connection to the yoma and collapses in a desert. He's rescued by a Claymore and asks around town where she could be. Someone tells him the Claymore is in the forest, and he goes to meet her there. Expecting it to be Clare, Raki is shocked when an unknown warrior steps forward. She introduces herself as a Claymore and tells Raki she was quite taken by him. Raki, however, remembers Clare telling him that her Organization never refers to itself by the name Claymore; rather that is the name people have given it. Raki pushes the Claymore away telling her that she is not a Claymore. The Claymore then reveals herself to be a yoma and proceeds to take Raki hostage. The yoma then calls out to Clare, telling her she knows that she has been following her.

Clare steps forward and the yoma threatens to kill Raki if she comes any closer. The yoma boasts that while Claymores have monster bodies, they still have their human hearts and memories, and insinuates that Raki must remind Clare of someone from her past, perhaps her younger brother. The yoma then tells Clare to throw her blade away, which she does, and proceeds to stab her through the gut. Clare then tosses herself and the yoma down the cliff so that she may reach her sword and proceeds to slay the yoma. Raki comes running down and thanks her for saving him again. She tells him not to misunderstand; she simply did that because otherwise the yoma would have escaped and she would have failed to slay it.

She then asks the boy why he isn't in his village. Raki does not answer and Clare concludes that they must have thrown him out of the village because of his relation to the yoma. She asks him if he would like to travel with her as her cook until he finds a village or town he would like to stay at. A grateful Raki agrees to accompany her.

While on their travels, Clare leaves to meet up with her link to the Organization, Rubel, and he gives her a black card. The black card is a request from a fellow Claymore to be slain by a certain person. It turns out Clare's only friend from her rookie days, Elena, is the one who sent the card. While Raki watches mortified and tells Clare not to kill her friend. Clare extends her blade and cut down Elena, who thanks her for allowing her to die a human. As Clare explains, the card is sent out when one feels they are about to lose their humanity and become a real monster. And so the first volume of Claymore concludes.

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My Thoughts

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Claymore starts off rather unremarkable and sounds like a typical shounen travel adventure: hero (in this case heroine) travels around the land vanquishing evil, but if the subtle disturbing scenes, like the yoma, who has taken on Raki's brother's flesh and memories, crying while attempting to kill Raki due to the body belonging to someone close to Raki was any indication, this manga will not be typical in any way. In fact, the final chapter of this volume begins to show us just how grim Claymore will become.

Granted, volume one is probably not enough to convince anyone of just how interesting and dark the story will get, but if anyone has even the slightest interest, I urge you to continue reading because it will get better!

Also, I admit that my main pull at the beginning (when the story wasn't yet interesting enough by itself) was Clare. It's so rare that we see a heroine of this calibre as the main character in a shounen series and also not just female for the extra panty shots (ikki tousen/battle vixens I am looking at you). That alone piqued my curiosity and I am glad I wasn't disappointed. The author, Yagi Norihiro, has earned my respect and now I shall be closely following anything and everything he releases. (*I have already checked out his prior work, Angel Densetsu, and I enjoyed it as well. I would love to see it licensed here).

So basically, Claymore starts off slow, but it gets better. And Clare is one of my favourite characters, along with a few others that are introduced later. :)

~ Joanna

Impression: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 6

The heart of the Outo arc, volume six, is one of my favourite volumes of Tsubasa.

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Summary

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Sakura wakes up a bit late, but she is still excited about helping Fai with their new cafe, Cat's Eye. Meanwhile, Syaoran and Kurogane go looking for information about the special Oni. They are told that the information they seek can be found in a bar called Clover that opens at night.

As such, when night comes, Kurogane and Fai set out to find Clover, while Sakura and Syaoran stay behind to run the cafe. On their way to the bar, Kurogane and Fai run into some Oni. The resulting battle causes Fai to hurt himself when he runs out of darts, while Kurogane's sword breaks from the power of his attack. Nevertheless, the two make it to the bar Clover. At Cat's Eye, though, things aren't much better. A strange boy comes into the shop and challenges Syaoran. Their fighting causes some damage to the cafe, but before the boy, called Ryuo, can create even more ruckus, a friend of his steps in and he realizes how inappropriate the location of their fight was. Ryuo apologizes to Syaoran and helps him get the cafe back into working order. The two become friends and promise to fight again. The others enjoy Fai's baked goodies.

Once in the bar, Fai and Kurogane ask about the special Oni. The bartender tells them they will have to wait for the song to finish because it is the singer who has the information they seek. After the song ends, the singer introduces herself as Oruha and tells them about a special Oni that takes the shape of a beautiful young man.

When Fai and Kurogane come back to the cafe, Fai shows off all the alcohol he got from Caldina, the bartender. The group celebrates and everyone gets very drunk except Kurogane. Fai and Sakura pretend they are cats, while Syaoran asks Kurogane to train him. When the latter accepts, Syaoran, drunk, takes a kitchen utensil and treats it as a sword while talking to a chair believing it is Kurogane. Furious with this nonsense, Kurogane tells everything to go to sleep.

The next morning Fai has a bad hangover and gets up late. Surprisingly, Sakura is perfectly fine and opened the cafe by herself. Meanwhile the puppy duo goes to pick up some swords. Syaoran returns later in the evening all worn out. The next day goes about the same, except this time, Kurogane notices Syaoran is blind in one eye. He notes that Syaoran responds quicker on his right side because he is blind, and therefore gives him a blind fold and tells him to come home with it on.

On his way home, however, Syaoran is attacked by Oni. Thankfully, Ryuo takes off the blind fold just as Syaoran was about to be hit. The two of them have a little chat and continue back to the cafe. On their way, however, they come across two Oni hunters fighting an abnormal Oni. Behind the Oni is a man and he summons more Oni. Syaoran seems to recognize the man and likewise the man calls out to Syaoran. Because the Oni have multiplied too much, Ryuo takes the stunned Syaoran and the two of them make a run for it.

Once they reach the cafe, Ryou barges in and tells everyone they saw the special Oni. Syaoran, confused, recollects how he met Seishiro, the man who summoned the Oni. Turns out Seishiro taught Syaoran how to fight. Syaoran concludes that this Seishiro knew him, yet he does not understand why he is here in Outo. As such, Syaoran tells his shocked friends that the man may have been the one who taught him how to fight. This proclamation brings a close to volume six.

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My Thoughts

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Volume six, the heart of the Outo arc, is definitely one of my favourite volumes. I really enjoyed the more fun and almost slice-of-life mood in this volume. The drinking party scenes, in particular, were a real nice treat. As well as the moments between Fai and Kurogane, which began to hint at something beneath Fai's smile.

Due to the nature of this volume, plot development was rather slow until the final chapter, yet character development really picked up. Bits, foreshadowing more to come, about Kurogane and Fai littered this volume (examples include Fai's yearning for someone to take him away like in the song, Kurogane's speech to Syaoran about cutting what you were not ready to cut, etc). Even side character Ryuo got a bit of development and his friendship with Syaoran was adorable. Syoaran did get character development, but it was nothing new: his determination is once again high lighted as well as his generally nice and gentle persona, which becomes even more pronounced when he talks with Ryuo. Sakura's general personification as an energetic girl is solidified in this volume as well.

For Clamp fans, this volume is filled to the brim with cameos. From major ones like Ryou (RG Vega) to little Easter eggs like Hikaru (Angelic Layer). I'm not too familiar with all of Clamp's work, but with the ones I am familiar, it's always nice to see them again.

As for art, volume six has one of my Tsubasa favourite covers. I love birds and Syaoran is one of my favourite characters. The fact that he is also holding a scale and looks so serious are pluses in my books. For chapitre covers, all were really nice, but Chapitre 40's cover really stands out. Chapitre 40 features the gang from the Hanshin Republic and what looks like a glimpse into what's happening there after Syaoran and company left. I really love when mangaka use chapter covers to tell the readers what is happening with characters that have left the main stage. I'm always curious, thinking, "I wonder how so-and-so is doing", so when the mangaka takes the time to give us a glimpse, it really is a treat.

 ~Joanna

Impression: Fairy Cube 3

The last volume of Fairy Cube! Includes a side story as well. This manga makes me interested in Kaori's other work.

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Summary

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Ian decides to take the invitation and attend the party where Rin is at. The fairies help him along the way and he gets in without being caught. Meanwhile, Tokage follows Shira and discovers the source of her power, a fairy demon god that has taken over her father's body. The demon god also tells Tokage how he came to be where he is, which also includes Shira's back story.

At the same time, Ian's aunt, Lise, visits his father in the hospital. She reminisces about how her sister and him met as well as what has happened to Ian. The moment Ian's father hears that, he reacts very strongly and urges her that he must tell "that child" his name.

Back at the party, Rin becomes one of the five finalists and calls Ian to the front. Ainsel warns Ian not to go, but Ian does so anyway. He is caught in a cage, but it turns out it isn't Ian at all, but a bunch of fairies creating an illusion. The real Ian jumps from behind and cuts off the necklace Rin has been wearing. This breaks the spell over Rin and the two of them escape. Kaito calls them over and the whole group follows after him.

Unfortunately for them, it seems Kaito has the same goals as the fairy demon god and he brings them to the door. Kaito claims he has been using both Ainsel and Ian and asks the demon god for a piece of the power pie. Balor, the demon fairy god, agrees and brings forth Ian's mother Kureha, who has the appearance of a child because Balor sealed her powers and memories away. Shira admits to being a girl and Kuraha apologizes for using her loneliness. This shocks Shira, while Tokage turns his attention to Kuraha and begins to attack her for abandoning him. This cases the bunny to fall and the seal to break, returning Kureha to normal.

Kureha is saddened to see her son using his brother's own body and tells him that his name is Isaiah and that she only left him because she was being pursued. Just then Ian's father arrives with Lise and he likewise screams, "Your name is Isaiah." This turn of events stuns Tokage. Balor gets annoyed and attacks Kureha, causing her to be peirced with a piece of stone; Ian's father runs to her and hold her in his arms. Tokage laments that this was not the way things were suppose to be just as Kaito shots him with his gun causing his spirit to leave Ian's body, while Ian's own soul is absorbed back into his body.

In his body, Ian now has merged with Ainsel, who has become his wings. Meanwhile Tokage is being absorbed by the numerous demons and fairies pouring from the sky toward the door. Ducie, who has been with him this whole time, is given the last of Kureha's power and saves him. Meanwhile, Raven takes Rin and Balor threatens to have her killed if Ian doesn't open the door. While Rin tells him not to listen, Ian opens the door anyway, letting lose a bunch of demons.

Shira has a change of heart now and cuts the tubes supporting Balor in her father's body. This angers Balor and he attackers her. She dies in Tokage's hands, telling him that the seal on Raven is now broken and wishing she could atone for her sins. Tokage promises to atone for both of them and she dies. With his seal broken, Raven now jumps into action and creates a barrier so that no more demons can escape. The barrier, however, is not permanent, and Kaito finally reveals that his plan all along was to become the new seal with Ainsel. He takes the broken wings, which Balor had previous torn off from Ivan, and asks that both Ian and Isaiah shoot the gun to seal the door.

They do so, but just as the door is about to close, the humans begin to disbelieve in fairies once more. Ian and Rin hold hands and create a miracle once again, closing the door shut. The two are then seen to be walking hand in hand, allowing the fairy world to appear in the human world where ever they go.

After the finale, there is a side story called "Psycho Knocker", which deals with Isaiah and Raven as they hunt down a few of the demons that escaped the sealing. Isaiah is hoping to atone for his and Shira's sins in this manner and Raven is doing his job as the guardian of the door. They follow around a girl, who they believe will be the next victim of the demons, the psycho knockers.

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My Thoughts

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Hm, I guess I'll start by saying that the pace was a little off in this volume. While volume 1 and 2 moved at the perfect pace, this volume felt a bit rushed. Not too much, since the movement from one event to another still made sense. However, it did feel like the mangaka was trying to warp up everything a little too fast with revelations and major events following in rapid succession. But that may be because I'm used to slow drawn out plots.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy this volume just as much as the other two and felt it concluded the manga in a beautiful way. The final scene with Ian and Rin waking hand in hand creating little openings to the fairy world was simple yet touching. There were a lot of losses in the finale as well: Kureha, Shira, Ainsel, and Kaito, but it never felt sad for multiple reasons. For Kureha, she didn't have much presence in the manga to begin with. Shira, while it was sad seeing her die, again this character wasn't as flushed out, so I didn't feel as much for her. Her last moments with Tokage were bitter sweet, but I felt there wasn't enough between them for me to really feel for them. While Kaito and Ainsel didn't really die, but were sealed along with the demons and in a weird sort of way, got what they wanted. That and the rapid succession of events really stopped me from feeling the manga's ending was tragic. For right after Kaito and Ainsel's sacrifice, we see the beautiful scene with Ian and Rin, which casts away all prior misfortunes.

The side story was actually quite good. I liked the main character because she was very down to earth, yet had a bit of personal strength as well. Seeing Isaiah and Raven again was also a nice bonus. I thought the girl, Ashina, and Isaiah were cute, although they weren't paired off. (So I guess Isiah belongs to Shira after all xD ). All in all, a really great manga. I really do not regret buying all three volumes. And I'm even thinking of trying some of Kaori's longer works.

~Joanna

Now Playing: Impressions

Here's a list and brief look into what I'm currently playing:

1. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
I love love love this game! I love how the battle system is a prefect mix of SRPG and RPG. It combines the best of both worlds. I also adore the demon fusing. It's very addicting trying to see what new demons you may end up getting through fusion. Fusion taps right into my gotta catch em all pokemon obsession, although I'm not too focused about getting all the demons, more about seeing them all. XD

Story is pretty interesting. Although, the gameplay and character interactions are what really keeps me playing. I must say, Midori is my favourite character at the moment. She's cute, funny, and strong. I love how she thinks she's a magical girl saving the earth~

Also love the role playing that is peppered throughout the game. Some of the responses are pretty funny (like telling other characters that so-and-so is your girlfriend). The game is also pretty challenging. I had to really try during the third day's fight with Beldr. Overall I am really enjoying my time with Devil Survivor, and I'm wondering which ending I'll end up getting. =D


2. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

I picked this up because I love pokemon and Amazon had a killer price on it (24.99 CAN as opposed to the regular 39.99 CAN). I also wanted to try an easy rogue-like. First off, this game is adorable~ It's so charmingly cute that I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside playing this game. Second, for a pokemon game, it's got a pretty interesting story. I was thinking that because it's a spin-off, the game would not have a great story, but surprisingly the story is pretty good.

Also this game is perfect for collecting fanatics like me. You have the opportunity to recruit all 492 pokemon (correct me if I am wrong). There is something insanely addicting in trying to collect all the monsters. The game can get a little challenging, like when you run into monster houses, but usually a bit of leveling or the right items will be enough to work your way through. I like that the game isn't too easy (of course for a rogue-like it is easy). In the end, I am very satisfied with it and I look forward to the rest of the game.

-interesting tidbit: I got cast as a Totodile. I never much liked the pokemon, but now I'm warming up to it and I plan on making my starter for SoulSilver a totodile now. XD Picked Charmander as my partner because I love the Char-family.


3. Wario Land III
I never got around to finishing this, so now I am trying to do that. While I got really close to the end, my game file was wiped clean and I had to start over. Strangely enough the game still saves and I've almost made it back to where I was before the save file got erased. I'm really enjoying myself, I love the blend of platforming and puzzle solving. I wish I could get the other Wario games that I missed out on. Plus Wario is just too lovable~ hehe.

4.Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Doing a complete run of The Lost Age for my backloggery buddy Phoenix's marathon and also because Golden Sun DS is being released this year!!!!!!! I'm currently at Gaia Rock and almost done with it. All I need to do is go to Mikage dragon and fight it. The game is just as fun as I remember it to be & the music is awesome, but I'm amazed at how much I forgot with regards to the puzzles. ^^;;; But that is ok, it makes the game more challenging.

5. Shining Force
I made it to the second last battle, but I'm really taking my time with it. Part of the reason is that I am attempting to level all my units to 20, but the other reason is that I've been busy playing the games listed above. ^^;;; Anyway I hope to finish it soon (yeah right) ^^;;;

Mini Updates:
-I'm on scene 44 of Knights in the Nightmare.
-I'm on the last level of Super Mario Advance, but I can't seem to beat Wart. :/ (currently on hold)
-I finished all the Challenges for Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I am now currently working on the Wi-Fi puzzle. Week 12 Puzzle has me stumped. (currently on hold)

~Joanna.

Impression: Fairy Cube 2

Loved the first volume of Fairy Cube, so I picked up the last two volumes together. I'll be reading the final volume and posting my impression right after this volume.

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Summary

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Volume two starts off right where volume one left off. Eriya's grandmother tells Ian and Rin about her connection to the Fairy realm and gives Ian her blessings.

The next day, Rin decides to head back to school, thinking after what happened before, Tokage won't be back. Unluckily for her, he is, and he proceeds to violently mark her with his Salamander mark. Ian notices the strange aura around the school and comes to rescue Rin. Unfortunately he is too late, and now the Salamander mark causes Rin to burn whomever she touches when she has strong feelings, thus burning Ian when they reunite. Ian furious, begins a duel with Tokage.

During the duel, Tokage recollections his cursed life and tells Ian how much he hates him for being loved by his mother and father. Ian tells Tokage that he cannot believe their mother abandoned him. The battle is dominated by Tokage and Kaito arrives to save Ian. Raven tries to prevent Ian from fleeing, but Rin musters up all her hate to burn him and allow Ian time to escape. Rin decides she can help Ian by infiltrating the enemy base and tells Raven that Ian will come for her and to take her to his boss.

Rin meets Shira, who turns out to be a girl. Shira is surprisingly nice to Rin, but warns her never to go into the room with the red door. While looking around, Rin hears a strange song. When she comes to the source, she sees a little girl singing surrounded by fairies. The little girl asks if Rin has seen her son Ian. Rin knows without a doubt that the girl is referring to her Ian, but cannot understand how Ian's mother could be this small child in front of her. Before Shira arrives, the girl gives Rin a pine cone and tells her to cheer up.

When Shira arrives, she is furious. She tells Kureha to go back to the room with the red door; Kureha seems to believe Shira is Ian. Shira then proceeds to kill all the fairies and when Rin tries to stop her, she attacks her with her powers and tells her that if she doesn't behave she will die. Rin is then taken to a room and locked up. In the room, it turns out the pine cone was really Derek the fairy. Rin met Derek while talking with Kureha. He's a strange little fairy that says the opposite of what he means. Rin asks Derek to convey a message to Ian. Once Derek does so, he mentions that he was able to find Ian thanks to a man with black wings.

Kaito watches the whole exchange from above, while Raven comes forward. Kaito tells Raven he will tear to shreds everything Raven wishes to protect because Raven is his. (This scene gives off a shounen-ai vibe). Afterwards Kaito discusses their past together, where both boys were taken to a kingdom from different parts of the fairy world. Raven was a slave, while Kaito was the Queen's Page. However, while Kaito lived comfortably, he had to swallow his pride, but Raven was able to keep his. Eventually, Kaito is kicked out of the Kingdom for sleeping with the Queen and Raven for telling the King that the Queen forced Kaito and not the other way around. When they are confronted bt a Beast from the Desert of Death, Kaito looses his eye and Raven's seal is broken, allowing him to teleport both of them to his village.

During Kaito's stay there, he seduces Raven's fiance and drives her mad. The villagers and Raven ask him to remove the curse. Kaito agrees under the condition that Raven pay back his left eye. Raven agrees and gives Kaito his left eye. The reminiscing ends there, and Ian and Ainsel happened to see Kaito with Raven and hear the story.

Later, Eriya's grandmother pulls a few strings and gets an invitation to project Elysium for Ian. When he runs out to go, Ian sees the advertisement for the face of the Elysium project and Rin happens to be one of the contestants. Kaito comments on how this is a trap Ian will be unable to avoid.

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My Thoughts

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We see a very frail and vulnerable Rin this volume. However, Yuki-san still manages to give Rin an amazing backbone and spirit. Granted, she isn't kicking any ass, but Rin has the strength to stand up to any adversary, regardless of having no special powers, which makes her a great deal more stronger emotionally. For example, when Tokage is threatening to rape her, Rin puts up quite the fight, scratching and biting him. And when Shira gives Rin the most threatening glare, Rin still speaks up and tells Shira she shouldn't harm innocent fairies. Rin is one of the few unconventional damsels in distress because she really isn't in distress. She wanted to be captured (much like another damsel in distress that I like, Rukia).

Ian isn't the focus of this volume, but he still shows a bit of character growth. First, he tries very hard to become stronger for Rin, without considering what kind of strength he seeks. He later realizes, thanks to Ainsel, that the strength he was lusting after wasn't the kind he needed. We see Ian's short fall from grace and him regaining himself this volume. I'm interested how his character will finally be resolved. Kaito, Raven, and Shira are still mysteries, albeit Kaito and Raven's interesting past has now been revealed, but we still have yet to learn each one's true goals. I'm hoping we learn a bit more about Shira and her goals next volume.

Story-wise, this volume was just as good as the last. The pace has continued at a nice quick pace. Back stories were given to spice things up a bit, and a few hints were littered here and there. For example, we see a little girl who appears to be Ian's mother, then Kaito's proclamation to Raven hints at his darker goal. Furthermore, back stories confirmed much about the characters personalities and motives, rather then puzzle the reader, the back stories did what they should do, tell the reader more about the characters. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I cannot wait to see the conclusion next volume!

~Joanna

Impression: Basara 27

Well it's finally the last volume of Basara. Another collection of short stories, but in this volume we actually see what happened to Shuri and Sarasa.

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Summary

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The first short story deals with Sarasa and Shuri right after the war has finished; both have lots of baggage and can't seem to be able to deal with each others issues. Shuri decides to travel with Sarasa and they end up in Huang Empire, which is going through similar experiences as those that happened in Japan.

Slowly they begin to open up about topics the other refused to speak of; Shuri about Shido and his life as the Red King, and Sarasa about Ageha and what the Red King did to her that fateful day. Sarasa realizes she was not helping Shuri with her fears of his frailty and Shuri realizes that he cannot solve everything with violence. The story ends with the two lovingly embracing once more.

The next story is a two page look into Shinbashi, Sarasa's owl. It's short, but adorable. The story following it features Tamon and Masunaga when they were younger and took the rite of obtaining the Genbu sword with two other boys. This story shows a far more interesting side of Tamon, and why he personifies what the Genbu sword stands for, and that is abhorrence to killing.

Then we have two more very short stories. The first features Hachiya, the leader of the Yarogumi, and his motivation for serving the monarchy. The second shows us a typical morning for Sarasa and Shuri in their travels. Sarasa reminisces about everyone with Shuri. His response to certain characters (ASAGI) are funny.

The final story is Walnut and it features a much older Hayato as he struggles to discover what he should be doing with his life. He meets up with two children with an uncanny resemblance to Tatara and Shuri. He is then finally able to realize his country needs him and that he can help Japan, and thus finally accepts the position of leader to be the intermediary between the different regions of Japan.

The appendix also has a short story called Sarasa that takes place before the catastrophe.

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My Thoughts

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Wow, I cannot believe it is the final volume of Basara. It's been quite the ride and I really enjoyed it. This volumes ties up Sarasa and Shuri's life after the war very well. It ties up loose ends about each one's emotional scars that were never fully closed between the two at the ending.

I was kind of shocked to see a story about Tamon and Masunaga, as well as Hachiya, as these three were rather neglected, Masunaga and Hachiya in particular. But nevertheless I welcomed both stories, because Tamura-san always has interesting character building stories. The friendship between Masunaga and Tamon, which was passingly mentioned in the main story, was given a beautiful dimension in this short story. Not only do we learn that Tamon is not just a goofy fishing fanatic, but actually wise beyond his years, but also that Masunaga was able to appreciate the lesson Tamon taught him and the other two boys and this was the foundation of his friendship with Tamon.

Hachiya's story was very touching and humanized his character incredibly. His sorrow at his parent's wasting away and their unending and unfulfilled hope as well as his inability to understand this hope in the royal family was softly presented as he watched his mother ironing his father's Hakama pants. The real impact, however, is only felt when Hachiya accepting the job in the Yarogumi finally connects with his parents feelings and says he can now love the royal family. My interpretation of this crucial moment is that his love of the royal family stems from the fact that they allowed what his parents have always hoped for and believed to come true. In one of the most touching panels, Hachiya tells his parents that he has finally been admitted into the yarogumi and hopes they are happy. Phantoms of his parents grasp his hands in gratitude. What they hoped for has came to pass before they were able to witness it and Hichiya wants to live their dreams out and this is his the root of his loyalty to the royal family.

Hayato was another character I did not think would get the amount of devoted space for his story that he did. Although, his story also encompassed a lot of other stories as well, the amount of character development that was given to him in his story was well beyond what I would have ever expected. Hayato in essence grew up in his story; he was still a lost young man, but thanks to a few children he was able to come to see that he too can do something for Japan and he does have the ability to accomplish it. One of my favourite aspects of Walnut, Hayato's story, was that we got to see all the children a little older. It was interesting to see how they grew up and whether they were like their parents. Raita, Raizo's son was as impulsive as him, but seemed to be a bit more laid back (since he teases Motomichi). Motomichi was almost an exact replica of Shido, except he isn't training to be a solider, but a civil servant. Ayumu looks like Shuri and seems to have his arrogance but her mother's enthusiasm and spunkiness, while Hikaru looks like Sarasa and seems to have his mother's down to earth personality, but his father's showy but strategic thinking.

Now for disappointments. I wish Tamura-san did another volume to show us more about the characters not mentioned or briefly shown. My biggest disappointment was the lack of Cha-cha. She was a crucial character in the first half of the manga, but during the second half she was rarely shown, and had very little plot significance or character development. I was hoping that Tamura-san would give us another look at the lovely and brash pirate, but she makes gets no appearance, and only a brief mention of her by Ayume in the last chapter. =(
Second, Kikune and Ichimatsu make almost cameo appearances throughout some of the chapters. I wish they would have gotten their own chapter, as well as a look into Lady Purple and the boy she is raising, who was abandoned by the mistress of her former husband. Also I was very curious as to what happened with the Abarashi prison wards; how are they adjusting to life. I also would have liked to see more of Raizo and Izumi, who are also just mentioned in Walnut.
Again, we see nothing about Yuna and Nakijin, they are only briefly mentioned in Walnut like Cha-cha. Well Basara had a really big cast, but I wouldn't have minded if Tamura-san devoted another volume to these characters, especially Cha-cha, I was intrigued with her relationship to Zaki and I would love to see the more of the two of them, and just the pirate life in general, arrr! XD

The bonus story, Sarasa was alright. I figured out as much about what the world was like before the catastrophe. The destiny theme for Shuri and Sarasa is a bit cheesy though. ^^;;; Not cheesy enough to make me dislike this story, but cheesy enough for me to feel it was a bit unnecessary. Overall very good series, loved every bit of it. It's a little strange to see it end, but the ending was well done. I'll be looking out for more of Tamura-san's manga, she has become one of my favourite manga artists.

~Joanna

Currently Watching: Impressions

Bleach
A series has really fallen from grace when you are more entertained watching filler arcs then reading the actual manga. Really, this filler arc about the zanpakuto is far more interesting then what is happening in fake Karakura town. I do admit, half of why I find this so boring is because most of my favourite characters are in Hueco Mundo, but the other half is that the current fights seem so half assed. I mean Shunsui's first release was enough to defeat number 1? really? I get that he is one of the most senior of the captains, but even Ukitake wasn't able to do that and both of them joined Seireitei at the same time and both were tutored by Yamamoto. It really did feel like Kubo did it to get the plot moving, so I guess he knows that the fans don't like this part at all. Anyways, the filler arc is pretty interesting. I really liked Renji's fight with Zabimaru, it was basically his fight with Byakuya all over again, except this time he won. I wish Renji would get more fights, I really miss him. I was very disappointed with Rukia's fight, or lack of. While Rukia's fight with number 9 was amazing, so I was disenchanted with the Sode no Shirayuki fight. Although I guess Rukia would not want to fight her own zanpakuto.

EDIT: Chapter 338 just got back to Hueco Mundo! Hurray! My interest level when from 4 to 7 (on a scale of 1-10). =D

Ojamajo Doremi

I started watching this series because it was a magical girl show, and I tend to like these. Doremi isn't Tutu, or even Cardcaptor Sakura, but it's still entertaining. The biggest problem with Doremi is that the characters are walking archetypes. Doremi is the good-hearted but dumb and goofy leader in pink, Hazuki is the soft spoken book worm with glasses, and Aiko is the blue tomboy that excels at sports and isn't too bright, but is high above at Doremi's level of dumbness. Most episodes are self contained and usually feature one of Doremi's classmates who has a problem and comes to the shop to buy a magic item to solve their problem. Often the person will buy Doremi's deformed item and the girls will have to follow the person to make sure that the item doesn't malfunction. It can get a bit repetitive, but Ojamajo Doremi usually changes up the formula just when it is getting stale by making the next episode about the girls's magic exam, or their family members. So far I'm yet to be bored of it, and it has a certain charm that keeps me coming back, even when the characters are so badly made and used.

Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch
Sometimes I really wonder why I continue to watch it. The plot moves at the pace of a snail, the filler episodes are boring and uninspired, and the main characters (except Lina) annoy me to no end. I should probably drop it, but I end up deciding to give it another chance because it's a magical girl show. I think Lina also helps me keep my sanity when watching this show, because the other characters are so unbelievably shallow and cliche and dumb that I cannot fathom anyone relating to them and their plight. Yes, angry rant is coming up! For starters there is Lucia, she's suppose to be a mermaid princess, but she NEVER takes her responsibility seriously, even after realizing that her kingdom is in real trouble. Nope, she rather day dream and chase after Kaito, who is awful. The guy has 'feelings' for both mermaid Lucia and human Lucia and doesn't know they are the same person. Sure he likes the same person, but if it so happened that they weren't the same person, he would be two-timing them. Most the time it seems like he only keeps human Lucia around because he knows he can't have mermaid Lucia, and during the earlier episodes he was really mean to human Lucia. But Lucia, being the dumb brood that she is, forgave him because he loves her in the end, even though he doesn't yet know it. This is kind of absurd because he is 'in love' with a mere image and recollection, and not a real person, any self respecting individual would have realized Kaito isn't worth the effort since he is a self absorbed shallow prick. The anime's awful perpetuation of masculinity as seen through Kaito and femininity as seen through Lucia and Hanon often brings me nausea. The only saving grace is Lina, who takes her responsibility as a mermaid princess seriously and is unwavering in her dedication to freeing her kingdom. Often episodes featuring her give me enough hope to keep slogging through the anime, but I am beginning to question how far my love for maho shoujo, and Lina's character can take me to bear the god awful atrocity that is Mermaid Melody. I guess we shall see how long I can bear to watch it. Currently I have watched 20 episodes out of 51. It's a contest then. ;)

Lucky Star

I must say episode seven was far more entertaining then the previous episodes. Konata's lady imitation was genuinely funny because it is such an overused anime cliche. However, the rest of the episode was rather dull, like the six episodes before it. Lucky Star is bordering on being dropped like Mermaid Melody, but for now, I'm still willing to watch another episode (maybe not in the near future because like Mermaid Melody, I can only subject myself to something I do not particularly like, but something I feel may get better only so often.) Any ways, like Mermaid Melody I will have a little contest to see how far I can watch, Lucky Star has an advantage as it is much shorter, but then again it's even more dull then Mermaid Melody. I don't know about other people, but I do not find four demure (possible excepts are Konata and Kagami) girls discussing food, clothes, cell phones, and other trivial matters to be entertaining. But we shall see how much I can endure.

Endure Anime Test:
Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch - 24[NOW DROPPED]
Lucky Star - 7/24

Impression: Basara 26

This is the second last volume of Basara. I can't believe I am so close to finishing this beautiful manga. Basara is also the longest manga of mine and of which I own every volume.

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Summary

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Since the main story has already concluded, the 26th volume of Basara contains three stories that are related to the main one which ended last volume. The three stories are titled: Nakama, Dakara, and Katana. There is also a Tam-Tam Extra Story that is very much like the one included in volume 24 titled "Basara Academy".

Nakama, meaning "friend/ comrade" is fittingly titled as it deals with Nachi and Hijiri, two best friends, after the finale. What is nice about this episode is that it not only gives us a look at the two after the finale, but also before. Basically Nachi falls in love and this gets Hijiri thinking about their childhood. After the two reminisce, Hijiri decides that even through they are friends, they won't be able to share all their adventures, and sets out on his own adventure to discover his betrothed. She turns out to be a beautiful young lady with an uncanny resemblance to a mermaid from Hijiri's past and is also a little mischievous. heehee.

Dakara, "because" is a very short (literally a few pages) story about a young Asagi. Basically the present Asagi is explaining to Muratake where his hatred towards Shuri began. It turns out Shuri pushed Asagi, which made Asagi drop his treasured peach that Ginko gave him because he was sick. Shuri didn't do it on purpose, but he didn't really care that Asagi's peach got ruined in the process; he sort of shrugged it off. Ginko saw the peach on the ground and told Asagi that if he doesn't like peaches she won't give them to him anymore. This devastated Asagi because Ginko was all he had and she rarely showed him affection. (The hatred was further developed in other flashbacks in the main story of Basara, where Shuri is often complement by Ginko and Hiigari for his strength and skill, strength that Asagi lacked because of his physical frailness. This hatred was thus later fueled by this new inferiority complex, and Asagi often tries to best Shuri with Sarasa, with kingship, and with Ginko's support.) So this story didn't add anything new to Asagi's character, but rather pinpointed the beginning of his rocky relationship with Shuri and gave us a look at a more vulnerable and tender Asagi.

The final story, Katana, is actually a prequel to Basara, and deals with the four warriors that tried to unite Japan prior to Sarasa and her group, but failed. What is interesting about Katana is discovering each sword wielder's great grandparents, and the basic relationships between them. Little curiosities like why Raizo has blond hair, why Genbu's sword is wooden, and why there was a mechanism made that would cause the whole castle at Kyoto to fall apart are explained here as well.

The Tam-Tam Extra I mentioned before is basically a very loose take on the beginning of Basara in the world of show business. And when I say loose, I mean loose. There are a few similarities that will make you laugh, but everything else is totally different. For example, Hayato and Tatara are friends and not Sarasa and Hayato, and Tatara doesn't die, he is just sick. It's very funny, and Tamura-san knows what parts to reproduce to humorous effect.

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My Thoughts

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There is still nothing about Shuri and Sarasa, I guess Tamura-san wants to save the best for last. Yet even with the absence of Sarasa and Shuri, Basara 26 is still great. The prequel, although short and underdeveloped when compared to Sarasa's story was still nice and it explained a few curiosities that I always wondered about. Asagi's little story didn't add much to the mix, but only further explained his dislike for Shuri, and why Ginko's approval became so important to him. It also showed us that Asagi and Muratake are basically traveling through the lands now, although this was already showed at the end of Ginko's story in volume 25. Basically, Asagi's story doesn't give us any new information, but reinforces what was already said. This sounds a bit pointless, but since it takes up only a few pages, it was more of a quick look into his past and what he's up to once more.

Nachi and Hijiri's story on the other hand introduced a lot we did not know about the two of them. For example, we were never told before this story that the two of them didn't get along until a certain incident. We also learn that the two of them are basically settling into their roles of head priest and village leader. Nachi having fallen for a widow is thinking of settling down and Hijiri realizes he has to get on with his own life as well.

Tamura-san's extra was very funny and her thoughts on each of the side stories up till now (including the two from volume 25) were humorous. Her little panel about Ginko's story is exactly what popped into my head when I read that part of the story (must get my mind out of the gutter!) Her thoughts also show how she feels about certain elements in the story and certain characters. The most interesting aspect that she shared was that Nachi and Hujiri's story was modeled on her own experiences with a friend. I personally have never befriended someone who I openly hated and who openly hated me back, so I found it interesting that people have these types of experiences. (I have however befriended people I wasn't especially fond of, but who I did not harbor hostility towards, because I basically never talked to or got to know them.)

Overall, Basara 26 answers a few minor mysteries from the main story and gives closure to two characters, Nachi and Hijiri, yet there is a large cast and we are still left wondering about them. I wonder if Tamura-san can give each character enough closure in the last volume.

~Joanna