Hello!
Welcome to The Anime & Manga Review!
It has been my dream to create a world on TheO where users can go for anime and manga reviews and finally here it is! I plan to make this world an active, exciting and helpful place for learning about and finding entertaining manga and anime to read/watch.
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!
10 anime I’ve never seen, but are on a ‘top ten anime you should see before you die’ list, looked good and now I am watching them.
For those curious what they are here's a link to the list I'm using: LINK
Man that’s a long name for my first ever segment on this world! But I do think this is a good place for a review site to start! As I watch these anime I shall be posting who would like it, who wouldn’t, and my opinions on them!
My personal rules for these are 1.) I must finish the anime (every last episode!) before I can post! 2.) I must give no spoilers 3.) I must watch them in a timely manor! No more than 30 days between posts! If I post on the 1st of the month I have to post again by the 30th! 4.) If I break a rule I must make a wallpaper for every person that's commented on any post in this series of posts. (Luckily I’m not expecting many commenters! ^-^)
Wow got a lot more comments on the last one than I thought… So thank you for that!
Ok!
Mononoke
Short backstory! This is not Princess Mononoke this is Mononoke the tv series!
So Mononoke… where to start… If I only had only a handful of words to describe it, I would say that it’s “creepy, colorful and beautiful.” It falls into the genre of horror/supernatural and I would argue also mystery.
And this is heavy stuff guys… Not gonna lie, this series tackles some things, now mind you its still a fun watch, and I really enjoyed it, but there are some moments to it that can get rather dark. (and I may disagree with some of its opinions and found episode 2 hard to watch)
Now that that is out of the way, what is this series about? Well, Mononoke follows a nameless medicine seller (just an ordinary medicine seller) and his adventures fighting Mononoke, which are spirits with “regret,” “form,” and “truth.” The series is 12 episodes long and is very episodic. In other words, the series consists of 4 stories with the only common character being the medicine salesman. I know this sounds a bit odd but trust its really quite good! Each story arch is well formed and just the right amount of freaky and elegance.
I really truly enjoyed it!
The art in this series is very unique and very textured. The bright colors and gritty textures really give the anime a nice feel. And the contrast between dark subject matter and horror to the bright vivid colors is really fun and interesting!
The story is engaging and left me wanting more! My favorite story in the series is probably the one where the medicine man ends up participating in a contest to win the hand of a rich heiress to the art of making perfume. The ark work and use of color is particularly awesome in this story arch and I just looooove the ending!
Ok who would like this?
Any horror fan. You like a good freaky series? Give this a try!
Supernatural genre enthusiasts shouldn’t be left out either! If you’re like me and just can’t resist demon/ghost/mononoke goodness this is absolutely one you must watch!
If you don’t like weird you might skip this one…
Also if a bit of gore bothers you… This series is hardly a Hellsing as far as blood and guts but there are one or two shock images.
Also this is a mature series, not super mature or anything, I would say a hard PG-13, but some of the ideas it speaks about requires a certain understanding. ^-^ Still fun tho!
Ok so today’s trailer is actually a really great fan made trailer by Lothriel on youtube. I feel the need to say that this trailer is great and Lothriel is awesome for posting it!
Thank you for your views and comments!
~Tsu
If this trailer doesn't make you want to watch this I don't know what will! XD
I adore this dark twisted little short! Well not that twisted but it really is very enjoyable.
The story begins with a very young girl watching something being killed.
We soon learn that the thing killed was a corpse eating monster called Estoma and that he has been killed by the undertaker who's job it is to keep Estoma from leaving the grave yard. The girl then proceeds to explain (rather angrily) that she had wanted to kill Estoma to revenge. The undertaker assures her that this time the monster won't come back to life…
Of course it does come back to life the next week…
At any rate it is a worth while one shot and at only 100 pages its a fast read that will keep you entertained! Every time I read this one I always wish it was a series… I think it would have been interesting to see how the author would have developed it longer.
I recommend it to those who enjoy one shots, fantasy stories, monsters, and people who need something to read and only have a little time.
Anyways sorry this ones a short review!
I've been planning of putting together a 'great fathers in manga' review for father's day and it has been taking my manga reading time… (I am such a geek I have manga reading time… >.> whats become of meeeeee~?)
~Tsu
