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天使のルージュ (Angel's Rouge) Vol. 2
I've never seen anything like this before. The author just quit doing manga. In the letter he writes at the end of the volume, he explains how during some research he was doing for another manga, he wound up attending church and became a born-again Christian. With religion, he started questioning his own success and happiness and decided that drawing manga wasn't appropriate at this time and so he just stopped, leaving this manga in stasis, ditching his career (I don't think the Japanese are accepting of quitters, so I'm guessing he's never going to be in the manga business again), and leaving his fans out in the cold. He had several series running in one of the most popular manga magazines in Japan and has even had one of his series translated into an anime. And he threw it all away. Can't say that I would do the same thing, but I respect his decision. At least he knows what he wants out of life and isn't afraid to sacrifice for it. Bonus comes with two one-shot manga that the author did. Those two stories account for half this volume. 8. はじめまして、かのんです (Hi, I'm Kanon): Reiko introduces Kanon, a little girl who has been a model for the company, to Daisuke. At first, she doesn't like him, but after Daisuke crawled through the sewers to save her hamster, she grows to accept him. He soon finds out that she's his boss's daughter. 9. 参戦資格 (Qualifications for Battle): The mother and child, with the manager and secretary, visit the deceased father's grave. At a employee party, Daisuke seems very out of it as he's wonder about what he should do. He likes his boss, but she's a widow. His family is surprised that such a young lady is married and has a child. 10. 秘書というもの。。。 (Being a Secretary...): Daisuke accompanies his boss as she goes on a lunch with an acquaintance of hers, Shibata. When he starts being a little too pushing in asking for her hand in love, Daisuke steps in. 11. 上海DOLL (Shanghai Doll): The company has a model, Cindy, from Shanghai to do advertisements. However, they find out that this girl doesn't like make-up from her previous experiences with it and didn't know that she was auditioning to pose for a cosmetics company. Daisuke tells her that make-up isn't necessary a bad thing. Cindy then asks that Daisuke do her make-up. 12. 替えてみせます、女の子！ (You Can Change, Girl!): Daisuke first tries on a fellow employee but does horribly. He gets some more coaching before putting it on Cindy. In the midst of beautifying Cindy, he takes a timeout with Ayaka. He almost comes to say that he loves her, but backs out at the very last minute. He succeeds with the cometic arts and Cindy becomes one of the company's poster girls. 13. 小さな願い (Small Wish): Kanon is jealous that all her friends have fathers and urges her mom to get remarried. She decides to run to Daisuke's place when her mom rejects her suggestion and at night, Kanon asks Daisuke if he could be her father and marry her mom. |
Title: 天使のルージュ (Angel's Rouge) Vol. 2 |
いちご１００％ (Strawberry 100%) Vol. 13
The only person without much action this time is Yui, unfortunately. She may be a brat, but I always remember Mizuki Nana's performance whenever I read her dialogues. I think Satsuki claimed victory in this volume. Bonus includes a few pages of Ichigo 8~9% parody. 108. 天地覚醒 (Amachi's Awakening): Much to the grief of the other girls at school, Amachi has decided on resigning his position as the popular guy at school so that he can focus on Aya. In a conversation with her, Amachi reveals that he knows that she likes Junpei, but will try to win her love regardless. 109. 二つの予言 (The Couple's Prophecy): Aya is pretty confused now with her love life and shows her confusion as she fumbles things around in class. To Junpei's surprise, she waits for Amachi before walking together to cram school. Amachi tells her that he'll make sure that she'll grow to love him. Before cram class, the male-phobic Kozue gleeful tells Junpei about the movie he let her borrow. She gets bumped into Junpei by a rude classmate and Amachi and Aya see the two of them embrace. 110. 恋の共同戦線 (The Battle Line of Love): Satsuki takes Amachi into the guy's bathroom and asks him how he won over Aya's heart as she wants to do the same with Junpei. Amachi tells her that he was just honest and that he'll help her out in winning over Junpei if she lets her be with Aya. Tsukasa comes over to Junpei's place to drop off a cake, but since he's at cram school, his mother invites her in to wait until he comes back. Before cram class, Aya, Kozue and a mutual friend are eating burgers when the friend tells Kozue to date Junpei since Aya is dating Amachi. Aya jumps in saying that she actually... 111. SLEEPLESS NIGHT: As they're walking to class, Aya asks Kozue if she likes Junpei. Kozue doesn't know, but feels comfortable talking to him which reminds Aya of when she first met him. They bump into Junpei and in class, Kozue starts fantasizing, which gets Junpei to start fantasizing. Junpei goes back later than usual and finds Tsukasa sleeping in his bed. 112. 寝顔GIVE&TAKE (Sleepy Face Give & Take): He struggles with what to do and when he hears his mother's footsteps, he quickly jumps into bed to hide. In her sleep, Tsukasa gets cuddly with him causing him much grief. He ends up sleeping on the floor and when he wakes, Tsukasa's already gone. He meets up with her later on and she tells him that she was happy to be able to see him sleeping face. At work though, the owner of the dessert shop Tsukasa works at asks her to marry her grandson, Ryuichi. 113. DISTANT VOICES: The owner has Tsukasa start thinking about marriage. At cram school, Aya arrives wearing her big glasses and has her hair tied back, with the intention of scaring off Amachi. However, Amachi recognizes her and treats her the same, much to her surprise and disappointment. Satsuki is determined to reel in Junpei and calls him up for a date the next day. 114. 誓いの言葉 (Words of Oath): Satsuki and Junpei have a date and she gets him behind the bushes in the park and strips down to her underwear. But then she has second thoughts and takes him to a church where she prays that even though she can't be his girlfriend, she wants to be one of his best friends. 115. RAINYみえすぎて (Seeing Much Rainy): At PE, everyone is outside playing when some drizzle starts. The coach tells them to continue even though the girls's shirts are becoming transparent. Amachi, in a heroic fashion, tells the girls to go inside. He tries to take Aya in, but loses her in the crowd. Aya ends up with Junpei in an empty locker room where they remember the last time they were alone together in the same situation and had to disrobe to dry their clothing. 116. あの娘のスキャンダル (That Girl's Scandal): Word has gotten out that the lovely worker at the dessert shop is going to get married and her fans start protesting outside the shop and her school. She has to yell at them to get them to disperse. After school, some sketchy guys try to hit on Tsukasa. Yui sees and tries to help, but she's too small. Yui calls Junpei on the cell phone for help, but then Tsukasa's potential future husband shows up. |
Title: いちご１００％ (Strawberry 100%) Vol. 13 |
双恋 (Futakoi) Character Single Extra
Had I been depending on Amazon Japan's listings, I would have miss this CD. For some reason, they don't list this CD. The PS2 game has been delayed until mid-December, which is unfortunately. December is going to be a heavy month for my credit card and the limited edition game isn't going to help the wallet. Mitsuki's seiyuu is one of the two singers here. I don't know off the top of my head who the second vocal is. So like many of the previous CD, I like the first song, but the second song is pretty weak. The first song is upbeat and probably could have been an intro song to any anime series (I wish they had made this or another character single the intro, but more on the anime op/ed CD next time). The second song is more lyrical, still upbeat, but a little more ballad-ish. |
Title: 双恋 (Futakoi) character song series EXTRA: Momoi Ai & Mai |
みなみけ (Minamike) Vol. 1
This is one of the series I had to leave behind when I stopped my Young Magazine subscription. I've already read 75% of the chapters in here, but it includes a few more chapters that got published after my cancellation. Minamike is a loose collection of stories based on 3 sisters. It's not roll on the floor hilarious, but makes me smile and chuckle most of the time. It's distinctly different from most of the other material in Young. Bonus comes with a chapter from the author's previous work where the publish says was left out of that series's manga. 16. 脱ぎたくない (I Don't Want to Undress): Kana wants Haruka to take off her shirt and show off the two-piece swimsuit she bought her. After Kana gives up, Haruka sees that her friends are all wearing revealing bathing suits and decides to take it off. Kana asks Haruka's friends how they got her to strip. 17. つきっきり (Always Watching): Kana is in bed sick and Haruka sits by her side. When asked why she doesn't watch TV instead, Haruka answers that it's more entertaining watching Kana suffer. Kana then suddenly jumps out of bed and feels better. Haruka later catches the same sickness. 18. ふたりのぶんは (Our Portions): Haruka has the day off and spends the doing nothing, much to the envy of Chiaki and Kana. As sarcasm, Kana tells Haruka to bake a cake. After the two younger girls come home from school, they find Haruka with cream on her face and ask where their slices are. 19. 似てないけど (We Don't Look the Same...): After a phone call from a classmate who comments on how the three girls are different, they start imaging how life would be if the three of them had the same personalities. |
Title: みなみけ (Minamike) Vol. 1 |
少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 50
Despite the cover saying that Tsubasa would be 30 pages this week, it's actually a bit shorter at the standard 20 pages. There's a page where the publisher apologizes. Since CLAMP called in sick, they didn't finish the chapter in time before the cover was already printed. Hmm...some Tsubasa news on in 3 more issues. Suzuka: ＃３７祝福 (Celebration): After track practice, Honoka invites her boyfriend, Yamato to the school's courtyard wher eshe tells him how long she's had a crush on him. Meanwhile, at the cafeteria, Miki complains to Yasunobu asking why he's not interveneing since he knows that Yamato actually prefers Suzuka. He explains that it might be a good thing that he chose a different girl. Late at night, Suzuka meets up with Yamato as he's just finished some extra practice and tells him she knows he's going out with Honoka. Yamato sees that even though he's dating, his relationship with Suzuka hasn't changed. Negima: ７４時間目 実は ずっといました。。。 (In Fact, I've Always Been Here): This chapter features Sayo, the invisible ghost student. With the news that the class is going to be setting up a haunted house, she raises her hand to help, but doesn't expect to be seen as she's been invisible for the past half century. To her surprise, she hears Negi call out her name as if he could see her. She decides to participate, but doesn't make a very good presentation and scares most of the other students. Mana and Setsuna come in to rid the spirit. They make her visible and corner her. Negi steps in to stop the sending and she turns invisible again, making some of the classmates to think that she's finally crossed over. Tsubasa: ６２望みの強さ (The Strength of Hope): Shaoran and Kuro/Fye have their fight. Ashura steps in to help Shaoran and then Yasha makes his appearance. Hamanaka Ai: ０５９文化祭の記録 (Records of the Festival): Masahiko is in charge of taking pictures of the school's cultural festival. After some pictures, he decides to take a picture of Misaki. However, a gust of wind blows up her dress just as he takes the shot. King's Sword: １２一騎討ち (Personal Combat): Ryubi engages the leader of the bandits who tells him that the king that he fights for is no longer in power. Ryubi proceeds to kill him off. Kanu then sees a henchman chasing after some kids and runs to save them. Full Swing: ８お前がやっているのは (The Thing You're Doing): At practice, Tama earns the respect of his fellow peer players, including the captain of the club. However, Shun still doesn't like the fact that Tama treats tennis as an alternative to baseball. He has a chat with Koto about this. After practice, the captain has Shun practice with the upperclassmen, but Shun asks that he gets to play with Tama. Changing Now: ２８高速！！ 死のバイクバトル (High Speed, Bike Battle of Death): Machina is dangerously riding his motorcycle, chasing after the villian that re-awoke him in last chapter. Dog Fighter sitting in back, scared to death. |
Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 50
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