Rekka no Chigiri by Shuu Kaori

Rekka no Chigiri (烈火の契り) by Shuu Kaori (or Kaori Shu), illustrated by Aya is…well, my first impression from reading the summary would have been a BL version of Lost, the TV series. Unfortunately, for me at least, it’s not. That does not mean that it’s not a good read but it isn’t so great either.

Aya did an awesome job with the insert illustrations as always. Ever single piece of them are drop dead gorgeous. It’s kinda obvious I bought this book for her so I should just shut up about the art now. :X

A real estate agency in Tokyo was planning to develop Kamiki Island, an abandoned island in Okinawa, into a resort. Thus, administration dispatched a team of five to conduct research at the island. Our hero, Oosato Itsuki was part of the team of surveyors even though he highly objected the development plan.

Eighteen years ago, his father brought him to the island where he spent his summer with a local boy, Takara Kouji. Once they reached the island, Itsuki was surprised to find Kouji there, acting as their guide. Adult Kouji was nothing like how he remember. Aside from sexual harassments by Kouji which Itsuki thoroughly welcomed and enjoyed, our hero faced mysteries of his past and sudden death in the team.

Hachigatsu no Soda Sui by Komatsu Shinya

Hachigatsu no Soda Sui or Soda Water of August by Komatsu Shinya is a story about a little girl, Lisa, who lives by the sea with her grandmother. The town’s design seems to be somewhere in Greece but actual location isn’t specified. With simple colour palette of blue and turquoise with a splash of yellow or orange, Komatsu Shinya brings you into Lisa’s whimsical world where strange, extraordinary things tend to happen around our heroine.

Chapters are pretty episodic. None of them seem to link to one another other than the appearance of Lisa and that weird stuff tends to happen to her. It could be supernatural beings popping out of nowhere, buildings sprouting feet, alternate world inside a ramune ball…

What I love about this slice-of-life work is definitely the art. The character designs and background illustration are absolutely adorable! Every chapter happens at different parts of the town, too!

Anyway, I shall end the shortest review ever with a link to the manga at Poco-poco: http://www.poco2.jp/comic/soda-water/

Reminder to Buy Them – Part 02

Here’s part two of my “Reminder to Buy Them” series. I just realise I have backlog of books I need to get since August last year. I bet most people already have their hands on these titles. Going to have to keep it short today because internet’s being extremely slow!

I remember one of my new years resolution was to avoid buying manga with dumb plot, but I just can’t suppress the need to get Ajimine Sakufu’s Hitokohi Someshi. Ajimine Sakufu’s works are kinda like Tamaquis Wren. They set up good settings with lots of potential, not to mention pretty art, but they just fail at story writing. It’s one of the I shall buy this for eye candy thing like one of my personal favourite, Tamaquis Wren’s Secret Flight series. I have fetish for men in uniforms! Anyway, previews for Hitokohi Someshi is available at amazon.jp. :D

Mayonaka Chronicle by Nagira Yuu

It’s final. I’m leaving US for home soon! A little sad ’cause I won’t be able to freely buy all those books I want now but at least I know I’ll save a lot.

Anyway, this time I have a short(?) review of a fluffy light novel I’ve read recently, Mayonaka Chronicle (真夜中クロニクル) by Nagira Yuu, illustrated by Oyamada Ami. I’ve never read anything by Nagira Yuu before, but wow, can she write such a tsundere character. Art wise, well…I posted a preview of the extremely pink colour insert on tumblr, I’m just glad the rest aren’t coloured. However, the most important thing is that the story isn’t just all rosy pink!

Yume Yume Shinjuu by Kojima Lalako

God, I wish I had the Japanese tankoubon for writing this review of Kojima Lalako’s Yume Yume Shinjuu. Alas, I only have the Chinese scans to refer to so I won’t drop any names in case I get them wrong. Chinese hanzi and Japanese kanji are rather different. But the cute little hero of the story should be Jyou (讓).

I was preparing another post and was on Google search the whole day yesterday. One thing lead to another, I ended up catching up with series I’ve yet to read and ones I’ve started reading.

Anyway, I read the first two chapters of Yume Yume Shinjuu back in 2011. Back then I thought, “Oh, another Lalako fluff.” So I stopped following it entirely. But man, was I wrong.

In fact, I should put a warning here for those who has yet to read the book. Don’t read this review because the  revelation of the plot is the whole point of reading this book! Not the porn!

Sensei no Otori Yose by Nakamura Asumiko & Eda Yuuri

Quick write up in case I forget about it (I totally will). While I was stuffing myself silly with okonomiyaki, korokke and rice for dinner, a surprising feed popped into my Google Reader today. Sensei no Otori Yose is a collaboration project between Nakamura Asumiko and Eda Yuuri. You can read it for free here >> Link <<

So far there are only two chapters but it’s enough to get me hooked. Right before I forget, chapter 1 is a manga, while chapter 2 is a novella with illustrations drawn by Nakamura-sensei.