Usagi Drop: Cute and Creepy

~Konbanwa~

Nadeshiko-chan here, reviewing Bunny Drop by Unita Yumi, a manga I’m not quite sure I’d recommend. I have very mixed feelings on this josei- oh yeah, by the way, this was my very first josei! And it sure was memorable. Alright let me explain this curious little manga. Daikihi is a 30-year-old bachelor acts like an overgrown teenager of a man, has just found out that his grandfather is dead. When he travels back to his hometown for his grandfather’s funeral, Daikihi and his family are shocked to discover that the old man had an illegitimate child. On top of that, it was with a much younger woman, she’s in her 20s I believe. Rin is the name of this child and catches Daikihi’s attention since she’s a rather quiet little girl and obviously helpless, not knowing anyone in the family, her mother having abandoned her after the grandfather’s death, and having to cope with the death of her father at such a young age. Daikihi seems to be the only one sensitive to this little girl’s feeling and is outraged when he sees how his family only sees her as an embarrassment, not wanting anything to do with her. In a fit of angry spontaneity, he declares he’s going to take care her himself. The first 6 volumes are adorable, Daikihi and Rin making an adorable father-daughter pairing, Daikihi being rather immature for a parent and Rin being pretty mature and independent for a 6 year old. It’s really funny and rather heartwarming watching Daikihi try to figure out parenthood and the proper way to raise Rin; Rin really becomes a big part of Daikihi’s life and he admits that all the sacrifices he’s made her were definitely worth it. Then Daikihi’s relationship with Yukari Nitani, a single mother, also keeps the manga interesting for those romantics; plus they also have the adorable friendship between Rin and Yukari’s son Kouki. In fact in volume 5, the manga fast-forwards to when the two are in high school, and you can see the Kouki definitely wants to be more than friends. You can’t help but root for Kouki as he tries to win Rin’s heart, realizing the mistakes he made in the past.

But then, volume 7 and 8 come, then this adorable little josei becomes chillingly disturbing. Try to guess what sick twist the Unita Yumi came up with? Have Rin fall in love, not with Kouki, or even the smart boy from her class, no, she has Rin fall in love Daikihi! What the heck?! And like an idiot, I kept reading, I hoping that maybe because Daikihi was the first stable thing in her life, she only thought she was in love with him because of the drama going on with Kouki and meeting her mother. But that’s not the case; at some point, even Kouki’s and her mother are supporting her! At least they made it slightly less disgusting by revealing that Rin isn’t actually the grandfather’s daughter, but rather his adoptive daughter; Rin’s mom had gotten pregnant and he had volunteered to help raise Rin. But this only makes it slightly less disturbing though since we still have the huge age difference and the fact that Daikihi is practically Rin’s father! What made me even madder was that Daikihi, noble, kind-hearted father-figure Daikihi, actually accepts her feelings! They get together after her graduation, I felt so sick and disappointed in both in them. This adorable manga became something so creepy. Still, I don’t really think Rin loves Daikihi romantically, nor do I believe that Daikihi really loves Rin romantically. I feel Rin, after the abandonment of her mother and death of her “father” grew too emotionally dependent on Daikihi, so as graduation and such came, she became scared of leaving him and all the new changes she’d have to face. Then I think she took the concerns she had about Daikihi getting older and romance as a way to stay with him, to have things stay exactly as they were. Then there’s Daikihi, who never really says he loves Rin and even tells her that she can leave him for a younger boy whenever she wants, not to worry about him. Never says “I love you”, just that he’ll be with her. He just doesn’t look like he really see her as a lover, I think he’s just worried about Rin and doing what she wants or something, I’m not really sure.

Anyway, because of the creepiness of volumes 7-10, I can’t really recommend this manga. And I know what you’re thinking, if I thought it was so disturbing, why I would read all 10 volumes. Well technically I only read to 9, but anyway I’m stubborn and was idiotically hopeful that something was going to change. But when I got to 9 and Rin tells Daikihi she wants them to have a baby and make them as happy as Daikihi made her, I realized it was futile and stopped. But the first 4 volumes of the parent-child relationship are adorable and I highly recommend reading those and stopping. Volume 5-6 is okay since you think Kouki will eventually win Rin’s heart and you could read those chapters, but it’s not as enjoyable when you know Rin’s going to choose her father-figure over her childhood friend. But the arts okay, having a rather unique style compared to other shoujo and josei mangas, so I think you’d have fun reading those first few volumes. But don’t be foolish like me and keep going, it’ll only bring disappointment, anger, and sickness.

You have been warned.

                                    -Nadeshiko-chan

Hiyokoi ~ Chick Love ~ By Yukimaru Moe

Konnichiwa~

Its Nadeshiko-chan, reviewing the adorable Hiyokoi manga today. The heroine of this kawaii little manga is Hiyori Nishiyama , a small, shy, and timid 15 year old girl. She’s going to high school for the first time in a year since an accident left her hospitalized and being the new kid isn't easy for this socially challenged teen. On her first day she meets Yuushin Hirose, a very tall and outgoing, popular boy who befriends her, though she has mixed feelings about the new friendship. But Hiyori starts to admire him for his charismatic and friendly personality and, soon enough, she falls in love with him. Now one of the things I love about Hiyori is how honest she is, being able to show weakness as she wanders out of her comfort zone, taking steps she was unable to do in the past. I usually hate crybaby heroines, but Hiyori is different, she's lovable and reasonable. Especially since even though she is painfully shy, she's trying her hardest to change and become someone more outgoing and get Yuushin to notice her. Which isn't too hard since Yuushin already has a soft-spot for Hiyori and truly admires all the hard work she puts into overcoming her shyness. Okay now lets move onto the art, which is very shoujo; girly and cute, but please don’t think it’s the common pointy chin and big eyed girls and skinny, feminine looking boys. The arts very smooth, I especially love how the artist does the character’s hair, I guess that sound odd but I think it’s an important part of the character and the way Yukimaru Moe does it is just charming. The eyes and clothing are pleasing too. The way she draws her more comic scenes are also quite nice, though honestly I don’t think its always the best and the art value seems to slip a little every now and then. But overall the art suites this kawaii heroine and plot. Its only major fault is that its currently ongoing, so you have to wait a bit for chapters, but trust me, the chapters that have already been released will make you fall in love with this shoujo manga. I also recommend watching the Hiyokoi OVA that covers chapter 1 of the manga, its adorable~

                                                        -Nadeshiko-chan

LUNAFLY Review

                Hello it’s me Miss Lee Minho, today I m not going to review a drama I am going to review a super new Kpop group which they are called LUNAFLY. They are a trio who debuted early this September they play an acoustic type of music. The song they debuted with is called “Superhero” which they also self composed it. They made an English version of their song which I personally think was really smart they could get famous fast around the world. I am just mostly going to talk about the people who are in the group and what I think about their music.

                This group has 3 members which are Sam Carter, Teo, and Han Seung Yun. Sam Carter was born on  October 14, 1987 he is half British and half Korean I think that’s pretty cool and many English speaking fans would be able to interact well with this group because of that. He is the leader, singer, and guitarist of the group. The second person in the group is Teo he was born on December 7, 1993 he is like the middle child of the group he sings, he plays the drums, and plays piano as well. The last member of the group which makes him the maknae is Han Seung Yun he was born on January 14, 1994. He sings, and plays the guitar. They all compose their songs. They have their single as I said before it is called “Superhero” and they have a single album called “How nice it would be”. I can’t really say much about these members because I really don’t know them well but I just know that they are really talented.

                I love this group the first time I heard them I knew they were made just for me. I really like the type of music they play because it’s very soothing, calming, and cute. They are very different from other kpop groups which are usually bubbly or loud in a good way though I guess popyish you could say I don’t know how describe normal kpop groups. I also like that in their YouTube channel they put practice performances that they do and it just feels real , it feels that they are actually the ones doing the work and they enjoy it.  I hope that they stay with this type of acoustic style because it’s really working for them. I wish that the something doesn’t happen to them as what happen to 4K now they are known as 24K. 4K at first started with the same type of music and then the company people decided to put to more members which just made them like every other kpop group because they changed their style of music and I was sad when I found out about that. Well, to bad nothing can be done but at least now I know about Lunafly.

                Overall I really enjoy this group I recommend it to other people who want soft type of music which will calm you down from your busy day. They now have more songs out I am not sure how many but not a lot yet if you want to check them out just click here -->YouTube/Lunafly.com. I hope they come to LA soon but I also wish that the tickets wouldn’t coast a lot so I could actually go. If you checked them out please tell me what you think about them and if you actually enjoyed them. Thank you very much for reading this goodbye.

City Hunter

                Hello it’s me miss Lee Minho today I’m going to review for you city hunter. One amazing thing about this drama is that Lee Minho comes out in it so how much better can it get. This drama is based on the manga City Hunter the manga was released in 1985 and it finished in 1992. I think there was also a movie before this drama with Jackie Chan if there wasn’t please corrects me. City Hunter which is a Korean drama came out on the 25^th of May 2011 until the 28^th of July 2011. What I’m going to talk about if firstly the summary, the cast, and lastly just my opinions of the drama.

                The drama is about Lee Yoon Sung whose father died when he was still being born. His father died because the government sent the father with other men to fight I’m not sure why because I can’t remember. So as the dad was dying his friend Lee Jin Pyo sees him die and tells him he is going to take revenge for his death and the other men who went to fight. He ends up stealing Lee Yoon Sung who at that point is still a baby and gives the mom money thinking that now it was okay but the mom suffers the rest of her life because she lost the only important person to her. So, Lee Yoon Sung and Lee Jin Pyo go to live in Thailand and Lee Yoon Sung gets trained until he was around 28 years old because he was going to take revenge for his father. At this point he doesn’t really know why he is being trained he just thinks that Lee Jin Pyo is his father. He ends up finding out about why he is being trained and then decides to actually take revenge but he thinks that his mother is a terrible person because Lee Jin Pyo told him that she left him. He then goes to Seoul, Korea to work for the Blue house which is part of the plan because he is trying to get back at 5 specific people that work in the government. Lee Jin Pyo before Lee Yoon Sung left tells him that he can’t fall in love because that will mess up the plan. As you can see it also has some romance in it he ends up meeting Kim Na Na his love interest. From there’s a lot of things that happen but one thing I could say is that he doesn’t really kill people because he doesn’t think that it is the solution not like his “father” who thinks it is.

                The cast of this drama I found to be marvelous I loved them all I think that everyone just did a really excellent job at acting. The main character is one and only Lee Minho who plays Lee Yoon Sung. I felt that he did an remarkable job once again I wasn’t disappointed in his acting I felt like I just fell re in love with him and his character. He has came out in many dramas like of course Boys Over flowers my favorite and first drama that I have ever watched, personal taste, mackerel run, I am Sam, Secret campus, and his new drama Faith. The love interest Kim Na Na was played by Park Min Young I really liked her acting she acted tough but at the same time cute will that’s the good word to describe her but she was just amazing. She has come out in dramas like I am Sam, running, Time Slip Dr. Jin, and many more. Lee Jin Pyo was played by Kim Sang Joong I really liked his character he is the one of those character that you will love and hate. He has come out in dramas such like Goong, Mom has grown horns, The Chaser, and many more. One of my favorite character was Kim Young Joo played by Lee Joon Hyuk he is the character that is against Lee Yoon Sung but when you get to know who he really is you will just start to care for him but when you see the drama don’t get to attach to him. Other Characters and cast are Kim Sang Ho as Bae Shik Joong, Jung Joon as Kim Sang Gook, Lee Seung Hyung as Song Young Deok, Baek Seung Hyun as Park Ho Shik, Lee Kwang Soo as Go Ki Joon, Yang Jin Sung as Shin Eun Ah, Goo Ha Ra who is in a kpop group named Kara, and lastly Hwang Sun Hee as Jin Se Hee of course there is more people who came out in the drama so if you want know who they are just go to dramawiki.com and to learn more about the cast.

                I just loved this drama it is on my top dramas. There are many things that I loved about it let’s start with their soundtracks there are two songs that I really liked which were Sad Run and Cupid by Girls Days. Sad Run there wasn’t singing in it you could say it’s more instrumental I think that’s what you would call it. I usually don’t go with those types of songs but I felt it just went so well with the drama and it had a good beat. Cupid by Girls Days was just a super pulchritudinous song every time it came out it usually came out with Goo Ha Ra’s character so every time I hear this song I think about her and it went perfectly with her character as well. This drama had many cute romance scenes between Lee Yoon Sung and Kim Na Na There was this part of the drama when she was sleeping in his coach he gets close to her face to kiss her she wakes up sees him and he doesn’t care and goes for it. When they first meet as well it was just funny because he was supposedly a man whore trying to seduce this lady that was dating someone from the government but it was just hilarious. I also just liked the action in it and I don’t really like action type of stuff but here I didn’t mind it I got really into to it. I really enjoyed how every ending was like a cliff hanger it made you want more every time the drama was ending I was falling of my seat and screaming wanting to know what was going to happen next. There weren’t any scenes that I hated mostly scenes that were really good because they got me mad.

                So, overall I give this drama 10 out of 10 monohorns. I give it this rating because Lee Minho’s acting was astonishing and not just that it kept me interested in it. It made me want to see episode after episode it made me happy, mad, laugh, and sometimes want to tear up. If you get these emotions of course this drama would be good. To tell you the truth I first saw this drama because of lee Minho being in it but I am so grateful I saw it because it turned out to be great. This drama also has the perfect amount of action and love so that makes it better. This is all I have to say I hope you enjoyed my review and please comeback and read other reviews that I will make in the future see you next time and have a great day. Also please leave comments in all of our blogs telling us giving us feedback and what you thought about that manga, anime, or drama. THANK YOU!!!!!

Mars by Souryo Fuyumi Review

Its Nadeshiko-chan <3 Been a while since I've posted huh? But I'm back! And with another amazing shoujo manga!

Mars follows the story of Kira and Rei, two teens who seem to be from different worlds; the artistic, shy, and quiet Kira is ostracized from the rest of her class while Rei is the center of attention as the school’s popular and lovable bad boy. But they are strangely drawn to each other, even though they don’t accept the fact right away. As the story continues, it is revealed they’re both dealing with major psychological traumas. Kira with her father dying in a car accident and her fear of men, rooted from the years she spent with a sexually abusive stepfather. Then there’s Rei with his complex childhood and the blame he puts on himself for his twin brother’s mysterious suicide. On top of that, there’s his love of racing motorcycles, which constantly worries Kira. Both characters are complex, realistic, and live in the gray zone of society, but they look at each others wounds and accept each other, doing what every they can to comfort and heal the other. The plot is captivating, the art makes it even better; I just love classic 1990s manga art, its simple charming. Souryo Fuyumi really knows how to express emotions like pain, fear, love, and happiness. You can truly understand what Kira and Rei are feeling and the pain they've experienced through her art. I highly recommend this 1990s classic, its story and characters both unique and in no way a cutesy little shoujo manga, not by long shot with its dark pasts, violence, suicides, and psychopaths

Hapi Mari

Chiwa and Hokuto

Hapi Mari by Enjouji Maki is a story of a girl name Chiwa who has to pay her father's debt from his failed business. She works as a office lady by day and by night a part-time hostess. One night a man name Hokuto Mamya comes to her hostess job and tells her to quit her job saying it's pointless. She not knowing what's going on he tells her he knows about the debt and would pay it off. Chiwa throws whiskey in his face telling him he has no right to tell her what to do and to leave. This results to her losing her job. Feeling angry at her daytime job she is called to the president's office. She then finds out the man she threw whiskey to was her own boss. Thinking she's about to get fired for doing what she did Hokuto's grandfather comes in and hugs her. Telling her he wants to repay her grandmother's favors. The best way to do so is her to marry Hokuto. In shock Chiwa who has never had a boyfriend in her life said no stating marriage has to be with someone you love. Hokuto telling Chiwa he's willing to go along with the marriage if that's what it takes to reach his goals. He thought she would be willing to agree feeling she was like himself and might want to team up. After hearing this Chiwa agrees to the marriage. Till that day fourth is the start of a hard but loving marriage.

Hapi Mari isn't one of those romance mangas that are boring as hell. It's one were you see the ups and downs of a marriage. It isn't one of those that are over dramatized. It truly feels like how a marriage would be in real life. Chiwa could be annoying at times but she isn't useless or helpless like other main characters in mangas. She wants to make things right. Hokuto is a guy who lost his mother at a young age and tries to become the head of his family. Hokuto could be cruel to Chiwa but you could see he cares for her. Later on in the manga he tells her he loves her you see a short change in him. He may act cruel to her but he's not use to anyone trying to change his life or wants any help. They truly care for each other and have things standing in their way they and will overcome them.

Hapi Mari gets a 10/10 Enjouji Maki knows how to create a story were it isn't boring or annoying where you think the girl is an idiot that stays with the guy but could do better. It shows how a true marriage would be.
This is undeadwolfgirl signing off

To the Beautiful You Review

Hello I’m Ms Lee Minho by my username you could see that I’m a big Fan of Lee Minho I absolutely love his acting. I’m the treasurer of the club. I’m not a big anime or manga fan but I do respect it I have read and seen a little bit because of my friends and I have enjoyed it. I’m mostly just watch dramas so what I will do for the blogs is blog about dramas mostly from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. I might review kpop people but I’m not sure about that yet but I know I’m going to do some Korean and Japanese movies. So the first drama I’m going to review is To the Beautiful you it’s a Korean drama that started on August 15 to October 4, 2012 so it just finished. This drama is based on Hana Kimi and it also has dramas in Japan and in Taiwan which I have seen the Japanese one as well. I’m going to give you the summary of the overall drama, the cast, and also my favorite and lest favorite things about the drama.

                The story is about this girl named Koo Jae-Hee who is a big fan of this high jumping guy named Kang Tae-Joon.  She decided do dress as up like a guy and go to the school he is going to. She gets her dorm and realizes that she is living with Kang Tae-Joon but he doesn’t like it and wants to kick her out but at the end he couldn’t do anything and accepts living with her. She also meets Eun-Gyeol and throughout the drama they become close friends which actually Eun-Gyeol starts liking her but he still thinks she is a guy so throughout the drama he is scared that he turned gay but at the end accepts it. The only person who knows that she is actually a girl is the schools doctor named Jang Min-Woo he decided to keep her secret after hearing her out but warns her that one day everyone will find out then she will have to leave. But in the middle of the drama Kang Tae-Joon finds out that she is a girl but doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t want her to leave slowly they both start liking each other but cant obviously say nothing about them liking each other if not she will have to leave especially that someone else found that she is a girl.

            The cast of this drama has a lot of kpop people the person who plays Jae –Hee is sulli who is from a group called f(x). She has come out in other dramas not many but I haven’t seen those so this time was the first time that I actually saw her act. I think she did a great job the character didnt act to cute or do trying too hard to be a guy she just acted naturally. The second actor was MinHo from Shinee he played Kang Tae-Joon.  This is his second drama that he has acted in I never seen the other one. His acting wasn’t that bad but I think it could have been better I just felt something was missing with his acting but I don’t know what but for a kpop rapper he did pretty well. Another kpop artist that came out was Hwang Kwang-Hee who is from ZE:A it is said that the whole group or other group members of that kpop group come out has background students but you never really get to see them. Kwang-Hee played a gay guy who like Eun-Gyeol he is always putting chapstick on and he is just a funny character. I can’t really say much about his acting because he didn’t come out a lot especially in the ending of the drama. That was all the kpop people that came out now the non kpop people the first person is Lee Hyun-Woo who played Eun-Gyeol I absolutely loved him he is my favorite character in this drama. I felt that his acting was great his character was suppose to be adorable and cute and I felt that he did amazing playing that. His smile in the drama was just cute when you see it you will faint from all the cuteness hahaha. The doctor was played by Ki Tae-Young he was very serious in the whole drama I guess he was good at the acting I never seen him act in other dramas so I can’t say much but he was pretty good looking and has a good sense of style. Kim Ji-Won played Seol Han-Na she was the character that had a big crush on Kang Tae-Joon because they have known each other since small she plays the antagonist at first but she gets nicer at the end. Kang Ha-Neul played Min Hyun-Jae I really liked this character at first you think he is not good but at the end you get to know him and understand him better. He is jealous of Kang Tae-Joon because he is a better high jumper and wants to win him but he has his own reasons why which if you see the drama you will find out. Other actors that were in this drama were Seo Jun-Young, Lee Young-Eun, and Kang Kyeong-Jun.
                There were many cute things that I loved about this drama and many that just annoyed me. First let’s talk about the cute things I loved how I get to know all the character more deeply they didn’t really do that in the Japanese drama. A scene that I like was when Kang Tae-Joon already knew that she is a girl and the bus goes buy which it was raining that day he stands in front of her and protects her form getting wet it is a small scene but I just love it’s that scene when you know that he starts caring about her. But the scene that I loved more was the parts with Jae-Hee and Eun-Gyeol because they are just cute. When they are eating S'more together, when they are in the laundry room, oo and I how could I forget when he protects her from crashing into something with the bike she was riding you will understand this part when you see it. There are so many cute scenes in the drama that I feel that many people will like maybe not these but other ones. The parts that I didn’t like were these first of all the reason for her going to Korea ya he is you favorite high jumper and doesn’t want to jump so you want to help him but in reality who really goes to their favorite something and encourages them to do whatever they quite on doing they should have thought more about her reason. I also hated the scene where she is dressed like a girl and still no one figured out that she was a girl!!!!! No offense but are they blind she is dressed like a girl how can you not tell and she also has a girly figure and voice you could still tell that she is a girl even though she is dressed like a guy.
            So I give this drama 8 out of 10 monohorns the reason I give this drama 8 is her reason why she left and that people couldn’t tell that she was a girl but besides that I just loved this drama. If you want something cute and lovable I recommend you to see this drama. I know this is one I will see again in the near future. But if you don’t like gender benders you might not like this drama but still please give it a chance you will never know you could end up falling in love with it. Thanks for reading this review see you next time :).