Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art
Timothy Clark, C. Andrew Gerstle and Aki Ishigami
Book
You can discover Japanese art like no other. Originally created by the artists of the ukiyo-e school...
The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature
Book
The last thirty years have witnessed one of the most fertile periods in the history of children's...
Fallen Words
Book
A NEW COLECTION OF STORIES FROM THE FOREFATHER OF THE JAPANESE LITERARY COMICS MOVEMENTIn Fallen...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl in Books
Jan 6, 2021
*I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Someone recommended this book to me a few months ago but I was a little wary of reading it, since I wasn't a fan of graphic novels back then--though I have discovered a like of manga since--and then I saw it on Netgalley and decided to just go for it.
Unfortunately, I felt like I was chucked straight into the middle of the story. I didn't have a clue who was who or how they fit into the story at the start, which made it hard for me to get into. I persevered over several days and I got used to the amount of friends in Alba's little group but the whole end of the world thing threw me a little. I didn't quite get that part of the story.
But then we get the hint of a little romance for our main character and I cheered up a bit. I was only going to give it 2 stars up until the 90% mark and then Grady melted my heart a little so I pushed my rating a little higher.
Not really my kinda thing. I prefer my girl's to be receptive to the idea of romance and not as into comics as Alba was--especially when she was naming some I'd never heard of.
I may read other books by the author at some point.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Yakuza Moon: The True Story of a Gangster's Daughter in Books
Sep 24, 2020
The narrative of this novel is filled with violence, and it got sadder and more miserable as I was reading through this book. This book is a great example of how poor decisions can ruin one’s life. Even though it was a sad book, I absolutely loved the illustrations used to portray this story. I found this novel quite educational, I learned how people were getting by in Japan in 1990ies, especially women.
This book is quite nerve-racking and upsetting, and the chapters are quite long, but it is a one-sitting read and pages just fly by. The ending of this book rounded up the story very nicely, but I wanted a different ending for Shoko.
So, to conclude, it was an unusual and shocking journey for me, but at the same time an invaluable experience gained throughout the pages, and I would strongly recommend it to everybody.
Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated Bleach (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1: Includes vols. 1, 2 & 3 in Books
Jun 24, 2019
As usual, I will try not to ruin the plot for anyone who wants to read it. I'll just say that Ichigo can see ghosts, and one day comes across a soul reaper - who accidentally gives her powers away and is stuck in a temporary human body. Together, they work as soul reapers to rid the world of "evil" hollows - which takes them through some pretty sad memories.
The writing is great - I found this so so comedic, and just enjoyable to read all the way through. I read all 500+ pages in one afternoon!
There's also some.seriously sad stuff in there - dead family members make guest appearances, and I actually found some of the scenes so touching and painful. The entire volume was just written so fantastically.
The art is amazing, too - I especially liked the odd blank page with just a small illustration that peppered the book. It was artistic, yet still presented the story well.
This is probably gonna be a favourite of mine for a long time. I cannot wait to read on - the end of the third volume in this collection is very intriguing! 5/5 stars.
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Death Note (2017) in Movies
May 12, 2018
First, it should be noted that with this film, Netflix joined the ranks of the Hollywood studios that have white-washed and bastardized several remakes of Asian horror films. From Oldboy to The Grudge to Ghost in the Shell (and countless others), it’s like these companies have an aversion to actually remaining faithful in any degree to the source material. (There’s rumors that my favorite Japanese horror flick, Audition, will soon fall prey to this too.) Honestly, they should just stop.
This version of Death Note takes place in Seattle, thus localizing it to the US. There is also no second notebook, which in the anime and manga are used to misdirect law enforcement. Because there’s only one notebook, there’s no Shinigami Rem, either. There are plot holes out the wazoo in Netflix’s adaptation, including modification of rules for no apparent reason (such as the days the Death Note can be lost).
Overall, I regret watching this. It was a waste of my time.
BLEACH Brave Souls
Games and Entertainment
App
The first smartphone action game based on the mega-hit manga and anime Bleach. Build a team using...





