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How I Hate to Love "Bradherley no Basha": A Long, Emotional Review. With a lot of spoilers.

How I Hate to Love “Bradherley no Basha”: A Long, Emotional Review. With a lot of spoilers.

“Every year, Lord Nicola A. Bradherley, one of Europe’s leading aristocrats, sends his coach round to various orphanages to adopt little girls and trains them to join his opera troupe. But most of these girls never make it onto the stage—a far more sinister fate awaits them, sacrificed in the name of the greater good. ” (From MangaUpdates)

When Japan occupied its East and South East Asian…

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Yuutai Nova (mild spoilers)

Yuutai Nova (mild spoilers)

I am so unlucky these days. I keep bumping into manga/webtoons that got rushed or axed. Sigh.

So, yeah, heed my warning: don’t get too engrossed, this series got chopped. And just when it started to get interesting, too!

Okay. Here we go: The manga tells a story about a 20-year-old college student who can perform astral projection. He first uses it to spy– okay,…

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Aeri’s in Wonderland

A quick summary: Na Aeri is struggling to find jobs. Out of frustration, she signs up for a suspicious, too-good-to-be-true intern ad — only to be forced to participate in an employment game that might cost her her life.

The idea is grand, with a promising premise, but the execution is a bit meh for me. As someone who endured years in an abusive workplace, I held high hopes that this webcomic could portray the bitter truths in the cruel employment world: new employees’ high expectations met with long work hours, meager wages, unhealthy competition, lack of appreciation, unfair contracts… really, slavery in disguise.

Well, it could. Somehow. But the dialogues are off. Plots are full of holes. I know this webcomic is inspired by “Alice in Wonderland”. I don’t know, I am not even sure, but at least I can fool myself that I am actually able to make sense out of Alice’s nonsensical story. And I couldn’t with this one.

However, I managed to finish all 30+ chapters. Yay. I was curious how it would end, and it was a short read after all. So, I guess it is not all bad. It still makes an interesting read. When you are bored.

Will I read again? Umm, nope.

Drama, Fantasy, Josei, Mystery, Psychological

5/10

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Find your post-apocalyptic pets at “The Willows”

In a nuclear wasteland full dangerous beasts, Edgar and his assistant, Chloe, run a pet shop -- selling normal, non-mutated animals.

But please ignore Toomics' official summary: this shop doesn't welcome just anyone. And they don't accept money for payments. You have to first prove that you are worthy of taking care of these animals.

This webtoon deals with a number of customers, each of them has their own stories told in several chapters. I like Chloe’s and the last story the most.

If you love animals, and stories about post-apocalyptic world, this is your cup of tea. It's not THAT feel good and heartwarming. But if you are not careful, you might end up weeping. But it feels too short with a few things left unrevealed. I wonder whether there will be a season two.

Will I read again? Nah. It is quite entertaining, but not that impressive. Unless there is a season two, then I might need to re-read to refresh. 

Drama, Sci-fi, Slice of Life

6.5/10

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Why I feel like an outcast manga reader (a very personal opinion)

Eh. I am actually an outcast wherever I am.

I am weird, antisocial, conceited, insensitive, immature. In case you haven’t noticed, my blog name actually indicates something about me.  Hehe.

But, you know, as I said in my bio… manga is my only consistent hobby. But I still don't see it is easy for me to feel like I know much about it too.

I once talked to a friend about how when I was younger, my school friends would say I am weird because I read manga. It was not weird really. It’s just, not a lot of people around me read manga.

Anyway, my friend said that I should start writing a blog about manga. Or find people somewhere to talk about manga.

Oh I did find some. On Tinder. And OKcupid. Lol. And elsewhere. But I found myself stuttering on the very basic question: “What kind of manga do you like?” I don’t know what to answer. Or when I did answer, the conversation stopped just at that because we could not find anything in common. Or perhaps it was just my social anxiety.

But I tried to check tumblr, reddit, or twitter accounts about manga.

Or randomly recommend manga titles to my friends when I feel like they can relate to the stories. But I still feel like an outcast.

Here is why:

People around me don’t like manga!

My siblings actually read manga. Well, there are reasons why people develop certain kinds of hobby and usually, it started from home. But when people grow up, high chance they also drift away from home. Jobs, marriages, the illusion of independent adult life.

Most of people I meet don’t read manga. Here are their reasons: “I don’t like reading books with pictures.” “I don’t read.” “Aren’t those for children?” “I don’t know how to read it. I finished a whole book and thought how weird it was… but turns out I read it from behind. (And I don’t want to try again).” “…Japanese are weird.”

That last one, I think some people are just not accustomed to the fact that there are different kinds of cultures out there.

I only read completed manga

I used to love reading ongoing series too. When I started working, however, I had so little time at hands and I found it difficult to keep tracks on series I were following.  I went to bookstores only to find that I missed a few volumes of some titles, and those volumes were no longer in the market. There are even cases when I remember following some series in, like, 10 years after I read then the latest chapter.

I have another reason, tho. And I think this is actually common for fellow manga readers: I cannot handle the wait. Moreover, it is not once or twice that manga I had been following went into a hiatus. Or, in case of scanlated manga, the scanlators dropped the titles. An no one is interested to pick them up. In those cases, I feel like I am hanging on a cliff. And someone brutally steps on my hand.

I don’t do fangirling

I might be wrong. But I think one of the recipes of mingling into manga communities are by associating yourself into certain groups of fans.

I have nothing against fanboying or fangirling. If I could, I would do it too. But my most favorite manga is usually the latest manga I read. I am ever-changing.

I want to be obsessed, too. But I lack loyalty and my interests wane way quickly. I tend to forget titles or characters in few days after I finished reading them.

When I was younger, I thought I like Westlife. But after a few months, my friend asked me whether I like Westlife. I said I don’t. She asked me whether I like Boyzone. Or ‘Nsync. Or Backstreet Boys. I said I don’t.

She, annoyed, asked for the final time, “THEN WHO THE HELL DO YOU LIKE?”

I was like, silently, asking myself, “SHIT, YEAH! WHO THE FUCK DID I ACTUALLY LIKE? I THOUGHT I LIKED THEM ALL!”

Even I got confused

I am failed to become a fangirl right at the doorsteps.

I no longer read shounen and shoujo

I once stopped reading manga for around five years. Not completely. I still read now and then, but I just could not dedicate my time to reading. Especially with so few people around me know about manga, I had so few reasons to read.

When I came back to manga, my taste has somewhat changed. My views on life has somehow altered and this influences my reading preferences. I tried to pick some shounen or shoujo titles I used to love but, I found them so hard to relate.   

“What, that does not make sense!” “Didn’t guy just try to rape you? Why are you so forgiving?” “Why are you falling in love to a jerk like that?” “Seriously? You let those people trample on you? Why don’t you fight back?” I was baffled.

The thing is, shoujo and shounen seem to dominate online manga forums or conversation about manga in real life.  I think if I did not stop reading back then, I too would still love to read them.

I don’t even watch anime!

Yap. I am one of those annoying people who won’t watch a movie before reading the book (if I am interested in the book, of course). But I don’t think the same reason of me not watching a movie applies with me not watching anime. It is just a matter of preference, I guess. If I have time to watch some moving pictures on screens I prefer watching ordinary Hollywood or world movies.

I am not familiar with Japanese and Korean terms

Nani? I don’t understand a thing. Ottoke… T_T

I am too whiny, too picky

Yes! If you read point 1 to 6 you will understand what I mean. I am quick to dislike. I am too rigid. I complain a lot. And I might have not tried that hard. I can always try watching anime or learning foreign languages, but I do not strive hard to do it (time constraints, tbh).

Ehehe.

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I do believe not everything I said is right. Perhaps, nothing is right. But to be honest, ignoring over 1000 words I poured into this writing, I am not actually bothered. For me, what important is loving what I love. Knowing what I don’t. I might say that I find some genres are not relatable, but since everyone is living a life different from others, I fully understand that “relatable”, just like other adjectives, is subjective.

By the end of the day, I do understand one thing: If I have to define a thing about myself, it is that I don’t like to be defined. That is perhaps why I feel like an outcast everywhere, or at the other hand, why I feel like I can talk about everything with almost everyone.

I genuinely think that everyone has the right to be anything they like, as long as it doesn’t harm others. You can be an otaku. A fujoshi. Whatever. You can be nothing too. And nothing is wrong with it.

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“Timing” and “Again” by Kang Full

”Timing” might not have the best art, but I assure you it has one of the most beautiful stories out there (and it is surely not a bitch). In facts, it is one of the best webtoons I read in recent years.

Timing circles around a group of people with supernatural gifts: a woman that can foresee a coming disaster, another that is able to see a tragedy 10 minutes before it happens, a student that can freeze time, and a man that can rewind time by 10 seconds. A series of mysterious high school suicides binds them as they race with deaths to unveil the truth behind.

A warning for those who love beautiful arts, the drawing might appall you. But if you can take some time to read and put outer appearance behind. I promise you this series is seriously thrilling and may invoke your curiosity till the last page. The plot is deep and can be rather mind blowing. The story is, as I said earlier, beautiful.

Its sequel, “Again” has a much improved drawing. This time, the story introduces a group people who cheated deaths, and will cheat times and again, even if it means killing innocent souls to achieve it. A man, who can always position himself in a safe spot to avoid dangers, has to protect his immigrant pregnant wife from the ferocity of the group. The story can be a tearjerker, just a heed.  

Each titles has around 30 chapters, and I gobbled them in one go. What amazes me from these series are most chapters are short but they somehow deep that it feels like so many things happen in only a few panels.

If anything, tho, the plots (of both series) can be confusing. Especially with all those time jumps and handful of characters. But I still think they, in a way, make sense. I seriously think that Kang Full, the man who penned these series, is genius. As expected from the first generation webtoon artist,

Will I read again? Yes, definitely yes.

Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Tragedy

10/10

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Hello!

Hello.

My name is Jiji. I am a she. I am a freelance writer/journalist, but honestly I am so suck at my job I would rather call myself a NEET.

And I celebrated my 30th birthday last November.

Yeah, I know. I am too old to be in a tumblr. And some may argue I am too beyond my age to still be into manga. But it’s not easy to grow up, and it is even harder to admit that you are old and need to face reality. And the wondrous life of youths is so hard to resist.

I am into josei and seinen, mostly. I am indulging myself to Korean Webtoon too lately.

But, I was far from being an otaku. I have no obsession toward a genre, a title, a character. I don’t do fangirling because when I do, I tend to forget and move on way too quick. I don’t even watch anime. I am not familiar with Japanese or Korean terms. I don’t read popular titles because, I don’t know, I grew up passed them, maybe?  

In turn, manga that I read is too bland and too meh for others. I am not that hipster anyway because when I talked to this friend who likes non-mainstream titles, there are a lot of his choices that way too eccentric for me.

Because of these reasons, joining a manga community online perplexes me since I only know very few titles being discussed there.

Yeah I know, I know. I am too picky. I am complaining too much. I am too half-assed. I am too… yada yada. But all I know is I like what I like. I read what I read. I like realistic manga. I like those who are whimsical, too. I outgrew shounen and shoujo, but I still occasionally read those who I find interesting. Romance manga is never my cup of tea, but I can still find myself binge-reading cheesy love stories. I hate how women are pictured in mature, male-targeted manga… but I still read them anyway.

This makes me a lonely manga reader. And I seriously long for someone to talk with, or a platform to have a monologue.

I decided to create this blog as a personal journal on manga I read.

I also tend to forget what manga I have read and what I have not. It’s such a shame to re-read a manga I don’t like without realizing I have read it before, or to skip a gem because I thought I have read it.  I made a read list in mangaupdates,com but honestly, the site’s appearance really cuts the fun out of it.

I long for a journal where I can keep track of my read manga and my personal impression on it, a very personal one instead of generic reviews in manga/anime site. I think it is going to be fun to read the entry and look back, and think to myself, “Oh, so I used to view the manga like this.”

If, by chance, anyone who has the same taste as me stumble into this blog, I hope my posts could serve as a reference for them. Or if you notice that we might have the same taste in manga, please recommend me anything. I am excited to know what kind of manga you have on your shelves :)