Manga Digest: Hoshi’s Personal Favorites

Theme 01: Hoshi’s personal favorites~

~This is hoshi here, and I’m here to present the new Manga Digest post! For a long time, I had been pondering as to what I should write for a manga post. I wasn’t sure what would be interesting to readers, and what would be easier for me. After much thought I decided to do recommendations 🙂 I really love recommending mangas to my friends, old and new anime fans alike, so I knew this would be best for me. I shall bring this post every week and each week will have a different theme to it to spice things up a bit. ;D For my first week, I thought I would show you my personal favorites:

Are you Alice?
Author: Ninomiya Ai/ Artist: Katagiri Ikumi
Genre(s): action, adventure, fantasy, mystery, psychological
Status: On-Going
Volumes: (Currently) 2
Year: 2009

Summary: After throwing away his dreams a boy wanders into “Wonderland” and he holds the name of “Alice” which is the primary requirement in the “Game to kill the White Rabbit”. In a crazy story where common sense does not apply and everything is bound by the rules of the game and the orders of the Queen of Hearts, Alice decides to take the gun in his hand.

Thoughts: Like the summary says, this manga certainly has a crazy story as you keep reading it. It’s a very unique, and quite psychotic twist, to the Alice in Wonderland story that many mangas have tried to twist themselves. I’ve tried sampling other mangas that also try to take on the Alice in Wonderland theme, but I’ve never liked any them, and I continue to ignore them. However, this one really captivated me with its extreme mysterious circumstances, and its killer twists. First off our ‘Alice’ is a BOY. Not a girl, like in many retellings, and he actually doesn’t even know his name. He comes to ‘Wonderland’ to see if maybe this place would have what he’s been searching for. The other characters also have their own twists to them; the Chesire cat is a man with long hair and cat ears, the Mad Hatter is a assasign-looking man with a not-so-fancy hat who works for the Queen of Hearts, and the Queen of Hearts is a man-looking woman with a pretty sadistic way to find ‘Alice’.

The story starts off pretty slow, which is a pain because there’s sooooo much mystery already in the first chapter and you don’t know what the hell is going on, so you start to get a bit frustrated. Yet, you’re hooked because of that deep mystery! You just kept asking yourself, “What is going on? Why doesn’t he know his name? Why can’t you have regrets in ‘Wonderland’?”, and you keep reading to solve that little block. Once you learn the full plot of the story, you start to get pretty interested and excitement builds. I personally fell more in love with it after I found out the plan for ‘Alice’ to do, because I love those violent plot twists, heh. Not to mention the art is lovely; the character designs and this mangaka’s style is pretty simple, but it’s nice and not very distracting. If I were to say my favorite type of manga, this would be it. It’s got everything I like personally, and I just wish the people scantalating it would hurry up with it! I would say people who love agonizing mysteries, those symbolic type of mangas, and just plain weird things in manga to check it out. It’ll really bend your mind~.

Dokuhime (Poison Princess)
Author/Artist: Mitsukazu Mihara
Genre(s): drama, horror, josei, romance
Status: Finished
Volumes: 2
Year: 2004

Summary: It starts with poisonous herbs under the cradle. Then under the sheets. And inside the clothes. Even mixed in the milk that they feed the newborn. This way the child gradually gets used to poisons and becomes the perfect assassination tool – the “Poison Princess” whose every kiss, tear, and even touch bring death. Her only chance of survival is to fulfill her duty as an assassin and find a way to live on in the enemy land she is sent to… if her heart is strong enough.

Thoughts: You can start to tell my taste are more towards dark and violent |’D  Anyways, this manga is pretty bittersweet, which is what I love in any manga I read. The first chapter is a guaranteed tear-jerker (Already?! Oh yes). It was actually more of a sad look at the whole situation these girls have to go through, no matter what. They either do the job or die. However the manga mostly focuses on one poison princess, Lycoris, who goes to a rival kingdom to kill off the king there. She encounters problems however and she finds it harder and harder to do what she must do. I won’t lie, it does get a little dull, and I found myself hoping the next chapter would be a little more exciting.

I don’t really understand the ‘horror’ genre tag this manga gets. I’m guessing it’s because most of this is horrifying stuff? It is a pretty dark manga, but it does have its nice light moments. I really love both the bittersweet story, and the gorgeous art of the fabulous Mitsukazu Mihara, who’s probably been famous mostly for her illustrations for the Gothic Lolita Bible. I just can’t get enough of staring at her art, which is one of the reasons why I kept reading, though I do get a little freaked out over the way their faces look. It’s a bit too realistic for me at times. I had been wanting to read stuff from her for a long time, but I never gave myself a chance. Mitsukazu’s works are great for people who love horror and a bit of romance. For this manga, I would say it’s a good bet for people who want something different, something sad, something bittersweet.~

Stardust Wink
Author/Artist: Haruta Nana
Genre(s): Shoujo
Status: On-going
Volumes: (Currently) 3
Year: 2009

Summary: I’m Anna. I’m 14 years old and I’ve just entered the ninth grade. Sou and Hinata, who live in the same apartment complex as me, are my childhood friends and we’re all the same age. I thought that from now on we’d become even closer friends, but then Sou suddenly did that to me…!!

Thoughts: Why don’t I like shoujo manga? Because it’s always the same thing! Boy, girl, fall in love, drama, don’t fall in love till end, and so on and so far. Yet, I am a girl, and occasionally I crave a shoujo manga as a guilty pleasure to get away from all the dark manga I read. I happened to stumble upon this one because of the art, which is a rule I HIGHLY go against. Manga is not only about art, but its story too! I highly detest it when someone chooses one manga over the other because of its art. So, I almost decided to ditch this manga because of my stern ruling, but I couldn’t help myself; the guys looked pretty cute ^^;

I have to say, that even though this manga has a pretty clear theme (girl, two guys, who to pick?) I found it really enjoyable! I knew drama would surface over her two childhood friends, and she’d end up liking one of them, but the process through those points was pretty hysterical. The girl Anna is really hyperactive and cute, and has the funniest reactions. Of the two guys, I loved Hinata and his stern face<3. He’s one of those silent and calm characters that always has that plain face, but he ends up being pretty funny himself because of that calm expression of his. I also give kudos to the mangaka who makes such cute and funny chibis! I wouldn’t be laughing without them xD The art as I mentioned before is really great, and the boys she draws…*drool* She makes you wish they weren’t fictional! I really hope this manga doesn’t get too cheesy, or dramatic. I can kinda feel it coming towards that, and it scares me. Overall, if you need a manga to lift up your spirits, this would be one 8)

~I hope you get to read these amazing titles, and I’ll see you next week! ^^

About Hoshi

A tired, over-dramatic 20 year old college student who likes manga and cheesy Korean boy bands. Prone to succumb to laziness and refuse to work for hours on end.