Author: pretzelpuzzle

Never really gone

I’m back, you guys. Since I was gone, I rediscovered my interest in all things gothic (literary wise) and did some major reading. I am officially a BIG fan of Shirley Jackson and Helen Oyeyemi. I can only dream of being such a great writer one day.

But now that I am back, I officially graduated and in the process of doing many many things. Applying for my masters, taking the behind-the-wheel exam and I got a job! I will also be catching up on some manga reading. I’ve been doing some extra reading and I’m thinking of changing the purpose of this blog to include anime as well or other fiction material. But I don’t know yet so until then, enjoy the upcoming posts 🙂

Stay chill,

P

Roses are red, violets are blue and I have shit tons of things to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, my attempt at poetry. I know I have not posted in a while but to be fair I’ve had finals week to prepare for. Now that it’s here, I see how unprepared I am. How frabjous! (thank you, Carroll.)

But the college trimester is coming to an end and so I do plan on starting reviews again. Here is a list of manga that I plan on catching up on/re-reading:

  • Dengeki Daisy
  • Trinity Blood
  • Maid Sama!
  • The Tower of God (I’ve heard that its ABSOLUTELY brilliant, is it?)

I know, I know. It’s a super short list BUT in my defense I have not been able to think about anything except for passing my psych exams and ending the trimester feeling good about my exams. Big dreams, I know.

But let me know if there is anything else you want me to add to the list.

Stay chill,

Perfectly Perfunctory

Jisatsu Circle: How to Run a Successful Suicide Club

“Read. Read. Read. Just don’t read one type of book. Read different books by various authors so that you develop different style.” – R.L. Stine

Horror, mystery, thriller are some of the genres (other than your basic fluff) that I truly enjoy. Especially if its books or manga. I’ll read it. I’ll cherish it and then I’ll get fucking scared for the next two weeks. But to be honest, I do it for the cheap thrills. That temporary, fleeting fear that the person looking back at you in the mirror is something inhuman or that there is someone standing beside your bed while you drool in your sleep, smiling to themselves.

I know I was harping about intensity and all that in my first post, so keeping that in mind I decided to review a horror manga. I was split between Uzumaki by Junji Ito and Jisatsu Circle by Usamaru Furaya (because I’ve heard so much about it). I chose the latter because in all honesty I had no intention of re-reading Uzumaki, it completely grossed me out and freaked the crap out of me. I made the mistake of reading it during finals week and man, I just could NOT get those images out of my head. Totally grotesque and freaky. However, moving on to the review!

A quick background history of how the manga came about: there was a movie titled as Suicide Club directed by Sion Sono (sometime in 2002?) that revolved around a wave of suicides taking place in Japan. Once, the movie was released as a DVD, Furaya decided to convert the movie into a manga. But the director, Sono, requested that he write a different story with the same title and opening sequence. This opening sequence is made up of nightmares, now I haven’t watched the movie but in the manga you see a large group of girls all giggling and laughing. At first, its sort of cute but then they start counting down and then they suddenly jump onto the tracks of an incoming train with like GIANT SMILES ON THEIR FACES. There are mutilated bodies, smashed heads but there is one survivor. The story is rather simple to follow but be warned there is a lot of selective graphic pictures of blood and prostitution. In the sense, the mangaka was really descriptive in his drawing when it came to blood, cuts and death but all the images of prostitution just existed (seemed shapeless). However, I will admit that overall the art work is rather interesting as it is not too complex but really sheds light on the creepy parts of the manga. As I said before with the suicides but also in reference to character sketching. One of the teachers really looks like a pervert. Kudos, Furaya!

tumblr_lt6w5r0tFh1r4xqamo1_500 (courtesy of google images)

The manga concerns itself with themes of self-harm/mutilation, prostitution, bullying, suicide (duh!) and may present as a trigger for those who have gone through difficult times before. But I’ve gotta say, I was not impressed by the story nor the ending. Or anything in the story other than the art work maybe. It is unsettling, I’ll admit. Nevertheless I did notice that there was no nice fear inducing after effect (which is at least what I look for after I finish reading/watching anything scary).

THIS IS THE END, MY FRIENDS 😀 Hope you guys liked it! Leave your comments below or contact me on twitter if you have any suggestions or anything! Do not be too harsh, it is just my second post 😦

– Perfectly Perfunctory

19 days vs Tamen De Gushi

Greetings readers!

For my first post, I have decided to dedicate it to two of my current favorite manga or rather manhuas: 19 days by Old Xian and Tamen De Gushi by Tan Jiu. And if I’m not wrong, even the art work is done by them as well.

19 days
Tamen De Gushi

Now both of them have been tagged with similar genre(s) on MangaFox: Slice Of Life,  School Life and Comedy. The only difference is that 19 Days is tagged as Shounen Ai (meaning boy x boy) and Tamen has been tagged as Shoujo Ai ( girl x girl). But still, they both focus on homoromantic/sexual relationships.

19 Days: Follows the relationship and the lives of two best friends. Its sweet, touching and simply HILARIOUS. The art work is simple but really brings life to the manhua (Chinese manga) and it is this simplicity that really highlights all the comedic bits. It is also fully coloured (so double points for 19 days). 19 days is also a bit on the intense side with themes on bullying, friendship and coming out of the closet. I really want to discuss the last chapter (SO BE WARNED: SPOILERS AGAIN) so here it goes: the main character (Jian Yi)  kisses his best friend (Zhenxi Zhan) after an entire day of mishaps and plenty of compromising positions. He then runs away in embarrassment but is sort of followed (?) or rather chased down by Zhenxi and is asked whether he likes boys. Guys, this part really destroyed me because of the artwork and JUST OVERALL FEELINGS. I feel like if I tell you what happens next, I’ll ruin it. So I wont.

BUT GO AND READ IT. FALL IN LOVE WITH IT AND CRY WITH IT. Good tears, I promise.

Tamen De Gushi: Another beautiful manhua that shows the readers “how two lovely ladies (Qui Tong and Sun Jing) met and  fell in love”(thank you GoodReads and MangaFox). Just like 19 days, this story is simply happy, fun, funny and overall touching. (If you aren’t happy dancing after reading this manga…then buddy, get yourself checked). Written by Tan Jiu and drawn by her, the art work is simple as well but the emphasis is laid on the world she creates. It is really appealing for the reader because Qui Tong is openly a lesbian. Her best friend (who is super good-looking, by the way) and classmates know about it and its sort of heart warming to see them being like touchy-feely and intimate on the streets. This sort of existence is put across so subtly that it just fits so perfectly into the story and with the readers. It’s nice to read something so light hearted and open especially since we all live in a world where in many places homosexuals and others are still openly discriminated against and it’s just tough to catch a break. However, I think one thing that is missing  in the story is the intensity or rather it is majorly lacking in the seriousness factor. That aside, Tamen De Gushi is not yet completed so hopefully there should be some serious advancement in plot and relationships.

So this is it! My first review. Check them both out! Both 19 Days and Tamen De Gushi are not completed. You can find them online, I think. Leave comments below if you have anything to add or you can even contact me on my twitter page: @prithisridhar

Thank you!

– Perfectly Perfunctory