The Woman of Udon
No, this isn’t a manga about a woman made of udon. (While I am sure that somewhere out there it exists, I have yet to read a manga about a person made of noodles. I can’t say the same about other foods.)
No Udon no Onna, Or Lady of Udon, by Est Em is actually a cute slice of life Josei that's the simple story of two people falling in love.
The leading lady works at the university cafeteria where our leading man buys his lunch every day. She works at the, you guessed it, udon stand. There’s a bit of an age gap between the two, of I think about 7 to 10 years, and it is really adorable to watch them fumble around!
The way they meet and get to know each other feels very natural, and being a josei it’s aimed at women and reflects a more realistic relationship than the average shoujo. Seriously, words cannot say how enjoyably awkward these two can be!
If this series has one down fall it’s that, like real relationships, there is not a clear ending. Despite this, the story still works and is enjoyable, but I know I wanted more at the end. But hey! Any series that leaves you wanting more is doing something right!
You would enjoy this if you want a cute romance to read!
I’d say skip it if you need action this week, and check out something like Tista or Assassination Classroom instead.
Sorry for the short review… >.>
I had work, Thanksgiving, more work, and quitting work this week so I’ve been busy! Lol
Next week I hope to be able to review an anime! Probably FMA or one of my 10 anime I’ve Never Seen. Oooh or maybe that Chrismas themed anime that's name I always forget… (Providing I can remember the name…)
~Tsu
Mr. Fredward’s Duck
Author: Ushijima Keiko
So this manga… It possibly has the silliest name of any manga I’ve read… (except maybe Banana Bread Pudding…) And it has, if possible, almost as strange a premise.
Ok now bear with me here cause the plot is gonna lose you for a second but this is definitely a series worth a gander. (or two)
So ok this is how it starts, a man named Mr. Fredward (who despite this old man name is a total Bishounen hottie) puts out an ad looking for a housekeeper, and who answers this ad? A talking duck named Rosemary. (Don’t leave me yet!) So long story short, he hires the duck and the story begins. Now instead of being what many of you are probably imaging, this series is not a comedy romp through the happy land of a man and his duck. This is a very intense and surprisingly heart felt manga from the early 90s.
This manga really caught my attention shortly before the main plot started with a well balance plot about animal cruelty from the point of view of Rosemary. It also contains some exciting stories with interesting supernatural twists!
From there the main story arch begins! (Fairly late in the story but its all good! Lol) What is that? Well Fredward ran away from home as a child and lived on the streets in a kind of gang. He visits an old friend from that time and discovers the older boy who protected him, and who he respected, has died from a drug overdose. He also discovers that this friend had a child. Feeling indebted to his friend he begins a quest to search for the boy to make sure that he is ok being taken care of and happy.
Trust me! This is a very bittersweet story that will warm and break your heart! It takes on some extremely difficult topics of the 90s and beyond… SPOILERS (Aids, being homeless, suicide, family etc.) On top of that the 90s shoujo art style is very pretty and nothing makes me smile like Rosemary’s enduring personality!
You would like this if you are a shoujo, josei, or drama fan.
If you’re looking for a man and duck comedy I’m afraid you’ll have to search a little longer. Give it a try its quite a pleasant surprise!
~Tsu
Dawn- Tsumetai Te
Author: Ueda Shinsyu
Dawn Tsumetai Te (loosely translates into something like: Dawn- Cold hands; or “Unfeeling Hands,” personally I think the latter is more true to the feeling of the story) is the story about a high school boy that gets more than he bargained for one night when he encounters the serial killer that has been on the prowl lately and ends up killing him after getting bitten. This series takes a lot of cues from the disease zombie in that people are being taken over by a kind of parasite that feeds on humans and much like a virus lives only to spread itself.
The main character Nagasawa soon discovers that he has also been infected. A government organization agrees to give him the drugs to slow its progress in exchange for his cooperation killing the Nightshift (the name they give the infected) He then tries to come to grips with balancing his secrete cover with his regular life all while becoming more and more aware that he might not be human anymore.
This series really stands out because of it's excellent balance between the character's emotions and the action/horror element. I often find that series with the horror/action feel don't give enough time to character development and I am happy to say I was pleased with Tsumetai Te's attension to that! ^-^
For the most part I really enjoyed this series and do recommend it to zombie, supernatural and action fans. If I had to give one critique it would be for SPOILERS AHEAD a slightly disappointing ending that felt a little too good to be true for my tastes but in the end I am glad I read it and have even reread it. And fear not the fact that its classified as a Josei (a manga aimed a women, the grown up version of shoujo) I actually thought this was a seinen and I think this is a manga that transcends these male/female genres.
If you’re shy of blood or action isn’t your thing this isn’t necessarily for you but the romance, action and drama really bring the world to life and I know I loved reading it!
However if you love your action, supernatural, horror and/or your zombies, READ IT! You won’t regret it!
Have you read it? COMMENT! ^-^
Did you read it after reading this? PLEASE SHARE!
Got a series you want me to review? PM or comment!
Good or bad I like hearing your opinions!
Wanna find another series to read or watch? Check out my other reviews on this world! ^o^/
Want to just chat? I’m game! Lol
~Tsu
Awesome lady leads in manga for girls!
So there I was in my one of my film theory classes day after the Oscars aired and my teacher showed us this video on youtube that talked about something called the “Bechdel test.” I highly suggest watching the youtube video through the link but to sum up, it's a test that determines whether a movie or tv show has use of female characters. It requires that two women talk to each other for 60secs about something other than a man.
I started thinking about this test and the manga I read, (I read a lot of shounen) and started thinking about which women are strong characters in series that are aimed at girls. (ie shoujo and josei manga)
Then I started hunting and… Graaah! It’s difficult! Even calling up Wallie and asking for help got the “Oooh that's hard” response!
And yes I do realize that girls read shounen and sienen and that there are plenty strong girls and women in them to be found as well, but that does not change the fact that these series ARE aimed and advertised at boys and men. And I wanted to see what strong ladies were in manga aimed at us females.
RULES:
(Sorry Kaoru from Rurouni Kenshin, I love you, but you only fight in the first book and need to be saved even then) And also (sorry Ouran fans) I am not counting reverse harem manga or (sorry Harada twins from DN Angel) not counting it unless they are a main character with a good portion of the story seen through their eyes.
Also another kind of random criteria, but to be on the list I have to respect the character. In other words if they were a person I’d go “I respect them.” (terrible explanation I know. XD) Also this is JUST manga! NO anime. (other wise this list would be filled with Miyazaki movies)
So I am going to count down my favorite strong female characters in manga aimed at girls and women!
Read these and feel free to share your own favs, or thoughts about the Bechdel test in the comments!!!
Special thanks goes out to Wallpaperotaku who helped me keep my sanity making this list and gave me some great suggestions!
~Tsu
First some Honorable mentions!
Princess Primula from Apothecarious Argentum, sadly doesn’t make the list since not enough of the manga is from her point of view. However her character growth is fun to read and she makes one choice in particular towards the end where (MILD SPOILERS) she picks her country over the man she loves and I give her mad props for that. Its something I don’t think I could do.
Tohru from Fruits Basket. I still haven’t decided how I feel about her and whether I can over look some plot issues I have, despite my love for the series. From the people I talked to about Tohru, everyone seems to be split on whether she is or isn’t, (half say yay the other neigh) but Wallpaperotaku made a strong case for her so I am giving her a nod as she is a tough cookie if a passive person.
All shoujo that CLAMP has written. Pretty much all their girls are well written. But I didn’t want this to be a Clamp list so I’ll be talking about them in a later review. It felt unfair to the other series to include them since they do such a good job. ^-^
Ok now to the main attraction! In my personal opinion of the shoujo and Josei I’ve read the ones I feel have strong female characters!
Yuki from Vampire Knight
First off I would like to say that Vampire Knight is not my favorite shoujo and I don’t even particularly like Yuki or a lot of the characters. So why does she make this list? Because, though begrudgingly, I do respect her. I think that her character goes through a lot of things and she grows and changes with them. I really feel like the choices she makes regarding Zero and Kaname shows a lot of guts. Even though she’s stuck in a pretty typical love triangle her problems aren’t magically solved and the manga does a great job of showing her struggles and emotions especially towards the end. Even though this manga isn’t completed yet I feel she deserves a mention on this list. (though we’ll see how I feel once the last chapter comes out! ^-^)
Kazura from Platinum Garden
Another incomplete series with a pretty typical “girl ends up living with guy she barely knows but doesn’t like on first impression” manga. However I personally believe this series has quite a bit of bite and gives not just Kazura but the other girls she meets a lot of attention. She also makes a lot of difficult choices and sticks to her guns a lot. Once again her problems aren’t quickly solved and I really buy the budding romance and drama.
Ririko from Helter Skelter
This is a MATURE josei manga that follows the story of a model striving for perfect and coming to the realization that the world of modeling is slowly throwing her away. This manga is a worth while read that consists of EVERY main character being female. Even Ririko’s plastic surgeon is a woman. Not only is it very female focused it also deals with image issues that all girls experience in a very creative way. I suggest this only to those who feel they are mature enough to handle it and to read my full review on the series on Beloved Blood’s Rein of Darkness world here.
Machika from Immortal Rain
I will almost assuredly do a full review of this series at some point since it is one of my all time favorites. For now though lets look at Machika! She could be written of as weak on first glance but once again its in her determination and growth as a person throughout the series that makes her a strong character. A perfect expample is when she meets the villain she’s been searching for (not Rain) and realizes the classic confrontation she’s imagined is far from the truth and the worlds more complex than she thought. This series also features several other fantastic female characters including the villain Sheriam, and a friend of Machika she meets along the way. Sheriam in particular is a favorite character of mine! You know why she’s doing what she’s doing and even that she knows it’s wrong, and why she doesn’t care anymore. The only short fall is this series splits the focus between male and female characters although the majority is from Machika. Despite that it is still a great manga with some great girls!
Once agian feel free to share your own opinions and favorites in the comments!!!
Thank you for reading!
~Tsu
