Hot-Blooded Woman: Manhwa Review

Title: Hot-Blooded Woman
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance, Supernatural
Author: Hwang Mi Ri
Volumes: 24 (Nice and chunky)



Ha Ji Kang used to be picked on by her brothers who would use her as a practise dummy for their martial arts. Running to her friend for help she is told to stand up on both legs and fight her own battles, otherwise people would look down on her as a dog that needs to be looked after. Having taken this advice to heart she is now the leader of a gang and has whipped her brothers – as well as others – into submission. All of this changes, however, when she smashes straight into a truck during one of her gang’s bike rides. After waking up in the body of the ever so feminine and delicate Aram Han, Ha Ji will be facing many different obstacles ranging from bullying to attempted murder.
If there’s one thing in the world that I know, it is that this series had me hooked from the very first volume. Granted, the opening premise isn’t exactly the most original, but there isn’t much that is these days. Ha Ji’s character is something that always had me chuckling to myself while I was reading; her almost unconditional trust in her friend Han Seo Jang is cute and reassuring, but unfortunately that blind trust is something that throws her and the other main character involved into a horrible messy circle of revenge and cruelty. Most, if not all, of the characters present a fantastic representation of how everyone in society is hiding behind a mask, and it’s interesting to see what happens when these masks are broken, which is what the entire series seems to be exploring.

Maybe it’s just the way that it’s printed or something, but Manhwa has always looked quite grainy to me, not that I’m complaining. Even if you don’t like it it’s easy to ignore as it all comes together into one nice set of pictures, but I suppose that’s just the difference in styles when compared with Manga, which tends to use slightly thicker, more solid outlines to paint the picture.

I love it to bits regardless of the art style, but sometimes it can be quite hard to get used to, not to mention the overabundance of names and families. Sometimes Manhwa has so many different characters with too many names to remember that I’ve had the strong urge to just put it down and walk away, but if that was enough of a reason then there’s a lot of great series that I wouldn’t have read by now. Funnily enough this series doesn’t present so many names that differentiating between them is like trying to pick out a wasp in a swarm of bees. Sure, for me it took a little time to get used to who was whom and what was what, but I got there eventually, and if I can do it then there’s no way in hell you should be complaining.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It carries on for 24 volumes but I never got tired of it as it constantly ducked and weaved its way through the plot beautifully from start to finish. Relationships often switched around multiple times and various plot twists allowed a fresh start for many of the characters and their place in the series. One thing I especially liked was how people acted behind the poker faces they’d made for themselves compared with how they spoke to other people, and how getting too used to using that poker face could sometimes screw them over. There are multiple points in the series where the stories just suddenly stops and makes a sharp turn in direction, so you can be sure that you’ll never be bored with it, and it’s great for questioning your trust in certain characters and presenting you with doubt only to take it back. Something else that I like is that this series constantly reminds you that no matter who it is, everyone has a wicked, selfish side to them. Even if it’s small and insignificant, it still exists.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this series, but I have been told that it is very similar to her other works, so if you’ve read some of the author’s other series you may end up the same regurgitated character types and plot twists. If you enjoy duality and opposing personalities clashing then this series is most certainly for you, and after some time it will have you asking yourself who has the best poker face, and who is truly the most wicked of them all.

Bakemonogatari: Anime Review

Title: Bakemonogatari
Author: Nishio Ishin
Studio: Shaft
Released: July 3, 2009
Genre: Supernatural, Romance, Comedy




















The Plot

Koyomi Araragi is a third year high school student who, after being made a vampire for a short time, is finally recovering. Unfortunately for him, he is soon thrust back into the unnatural when he catches fellow classmate and loner Hitage Senjogahara after she falls down the stairs and is amazed to find she weighs next to nothing...literally. After being threatened Araragi soon volunteers to take her to the same person who helped him overcome his vampirism, the homeless middle aged man Meme Oshino.

What's Good

The series' primary focus is on conversations between different characters. It is delightful to see some of these interplays and I find it enjoyable to see the different characters interact with Araragi and each other. The attitude of main character, Araragi, is also entertaining as he can go from calm and laid back to distressed and comically panicked in a split second. The series' new spin on the traditional supernatural monsters and main character saving the day formula is certainly interesting, especially since his first port of call after encountering people afflicted by the supernatural is to approach the expert, Meme.
The artwork is frankly gorgeous and I find the colouring of the art especially appealing, but that is an aspect you need to be shown rather than told.
The music for the opening and ending is also fantastic and are some of my favourites of this season.

What's bad

With the series focusing primarily on conversation, its habit of flashing up various words every now and again and the Author's well-known love for wordplay it is understandable that the inability to understand some parts of conversation and text can be frustrating, but this is a rather a gripe at my own inability to understand the language, although I do wonder how many Japanese people themselves are able to follow some of the wordplay. As well as being a conversation-heavy show the show can be rather slow-paced and this can become tiresome, especially if your interests are more action-oriented.

Conclusion

Bakemonogatari is a good series if you can look past the insanity of various flashing cards with words like 'red' and 'black' on them (a habit that Shaft is notorious for and it is certainly used just as often in their previous production “Zetsubou Sensei”) and losing out on some of the word play and satire. Even missing that the series is still fun to watch, though the slow pace can be off-putting and despite watching several episodes I'm still working my way slowly through the series.

Mirai Nikki: Manga Review

Title: Mirai Nikki
Author: Sakae Esuno
Volumes: 8 Volumes (ongoing)
Released: January 26, 2006




















The Plot

Amano Yukiteru is an antisocial boy whose only two interests seem to be writing in his diary on his cell phone and visiting his imaginary friend Deus Ex Machina, the lord of time and space. One day Yukiteru goes home and visits his imaginary friend only to be told that his cell phone has been gifted with the ability to tell the future. Yukiteru soon learns to enjoy his new toy and everything is going smoothly until the diary's latest entry foretells his own death.

After narrowly dodging his own death Yukiteru is soon stunned to find out that there are other people with future telling cellphone diaries and he has unwittingly become a player in the Battle Royale to decide who is going to be Deus' sucessor.

What's Good

For starters the characters in Mirai Nikki are nothing if not entertaining and watching how different characters take to their new powers is certainly something interesting to see. The way the different diaries work is a nice touch, especially with some of the more unusual ones such as the audio diary for the blind player and the 'escape' diary which allows its owner to find any possible way out of a situation. The story moves at a nice pace without dragged its feet much, and the build-up towards parts of the series is as intense as you would expect from a thriller. The characters' back stories are also exciting, especially those that are even now shrouded in mystery.

What's bad

Some of the scenes are a bit unrealistic; such as feats of strength and accuracy that aren't exactly believable at times. Some parts are a bit idealistic in the way that things seem to go smoothly at just the right moment, though this can also be reversed in respect of that things also go phenomenally bad at just the wrong moment, a minor flaw that has been pointed out is that the characters are able to foretell up to 90 days into the future and yet most characters don't seem to bother doing much more than checking their diary right after or just before a momentous event, though it has also been pointed out that the future changes so often that it becomes pointless to bother. This brings up the flaw of how quickly things can change in the Manga, which could be seen as confusing sometimes.

Conclusion

While it has its good points and bad points I feel that Mirai Nikki is definitely a must see . While it may not be for everyone I have thoroughly enjoyed the plot (thus far) and the characters, and while some of it may be unbelievable and convenient in places I personally loved every second of it. After all, even if it is sometimes unbelievable it doesn't suffer from it. In fact in places the unbelievable feats may leave you cheering for more. If you're looking for a good psychological thriller then look no further, if not then I definitely recommend you give it a try regardless. Who knows, you just might like it.