Monday 2 July 2012

Bludging at it's finest

Oh hey! I am happy to say that the past few days I have done some hardcore budging and man am I enjoying doing absolutely nothing. Well, not completely true, being a sports fan, I am currently up all hours at night channel surfing between Wimbledon and Tour de France, and soon, the Olympics. In some good news, I passed Semester One of Uni, including the nightmare that is accounting! I am so so so happy that I was able to pass accounting, given my 4am cram session the night before the exam :). Finally, my suffering has ended and I can look forward to the awesome subjects I have selected for my second semester.

Anyhow, I have read Kakan no Madonna by Saito Chiho. I must say, I quite like this mangaka's work, the plots are shoujo, however there is always unexpected plot turns which always ensures an interesting read. I remember reading Mou Hitori no Marionette, which deals with multiple personality disorders such as schizophrenia, which is something that not even the best novelists write about. Anyway, as for Kakan no Madonna, it is set in 16th century Italy in the era of Da Vinci and co, and focuses on Leonora, a girl who bears a striking resemblance to a painting Da Vinci painted ten years prior to the commencement of the story. Da Vinci is actually a character in the manga, so I found that rather interesting. Anyhow, the painting is a clue to a legend that involves a hidden sword and if found, the holder of the sword would become King of Italy. So Leonora goes on a journey to find the sword despite the fact that she is sought after many who wish to become the king, and meets and falls in love with the prince of Naples, Falco, despite the fact that originally, he had the same the purpose as others of becoming king. There is some factual accuracy to this story, as there is to some of Saito Chiho's other series. For example, one of the men after her in order to become king is Cesare Borgia. The series coincides with the demise of the Borgia family, which actually happened, look it up on Wikipedia. As I said, there are unexpected plot turns, some of which have quite adult themes (rape, murder etc) but overall it is a quite entertaining read. I am just waiting for the final few chapters to be scanlated so I can read the ending :)

I will also say I attempted to read Kirarin Revolution. I could only read the first six chapters because from that point onwards, the scans become of such poor quality that I can't stand it. I know I don't have any right to complain, but the English was so bad that I couldn't make sense of what was happening so I just gave up. The art is cute though, so it is easy on the eye!

In the meantime, I have read Taming the Cat Master by Han Yu Rang. The story is about an orphan girl Hye Sung, and how she is forced out of the orphanage to live with a stranger of the name of Kang Jae Young due to the will left by Kang Jae Young's deceased grandfather. At first, the two fight continuously as both are stubborn to admit defeat, although this animosity between the two also harbors a deeper, subconscious level of attraction, as Hye Sung unknowingly becomes jealous of the women around Kang Jae Young. Throughout the story, it is revealed what the contents of the will were, which was for Kang Jae Young and Hye Sung to marry in order for them to receive an inheritance. At first, Hye Sung rejects, but after a few humiliating encounters with Kang Jae Young's mother, Hye Sung agrees to the marriage out of spite for his mother. After a previous lover of Kang Jae Young hears the news, she becomes jealous that she has lost him to someone she deems unworthy, and plots a revenge that makes Hye Sung appear to be frivolous and unfaithful to Kang Jae Young that spirals way out of control to the point where Hye Sung is expelled from school. This plot by the former lover completely backfires as it acts as a catalyst for Hye Sung and Kang Jae Young as the attraction is brought to the surface. When there seems to be no way to solve the current crisis, Kang Jae Young's mother offers Hye Sung a lifeline to stop the crisis, on the condition she obeys the mother's wishes. Hye Sung agrees and the crisis dies down, then as expected, Kang Jae Young's mother asks Hye Sung to leave and to never contact them again. This is where the story kind of ends for now as scanlations are still going, the last volume was released by Blue Moon scans a few hours ago and I haven't had a chance to read it yet, so Ill do that when I have some time.

Anyways, next on the list is Youth Gone Wild, which I am really looking forward to, so watch this space!

Anyways, that's about it for now, until next time :)

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