A Dog's Life

Title: A Dog's Life

Author: GreyLiliy

Genre: Fanfiction, Humour, General

Summary: Sanzo has kicked the bucket, but that just won't do! A certain Merciful Goddess has given Sanzo a second chance at life, but what's the catch? ~quoted verbatim

Opinion: Well, well, the ever venerable Genjyo Sanzo has been turned into a dog! Although he really should be grateful to the Merciful Goddess for giving him a second chance at life, don't you think? ^_^

The basic gist of it is this: Sanzo was killed while fighting youkais. The Merciful Goddess decided to be, well, merciful, and grant Sanzo a second shot at life. The catch is this: he's getting turned into a dog, unable to speak and unequipped with his ever-familiar gun and fan, and he has a limited time in which he has to get Goku, Hakkai and Gojyo to recognize him as 'Sanzo' even when he looks and behaves like an ordinary dog.

This fanfiction is extremely hilarious and a different twist on all Saiyuki fiction out there. It spans only sixteen chapters and is quirky and different, having been written mostly from doggie!Sanzo's point of view.

You can also read how Sanzo's death affects the other members of the Saiyuki team. GreyLiliy does a fine job indeed weaving everything together to make it reasonably plausible for the reader. There's only a minimal amount of angst in this fic (and you know how much I love angst) but the good plot and interestingly written characters get you hooked anyway. Over time of reading this fic, you will find doggy!Sanzo to be extremely adorable indeed, such is the cleverly written characters.

There is a bare amount of swearing interspersed within the fic, so watch out for that as well. ~rage-chan

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Have an interesting fanfic for us to read? Drop a link or comment and we'll read it if it's within our anime-watching sphere. ^_^ Thank you!

Love Is For Humans, Not For Things

Title: Love Is For Humans, Not For Things

Author: Aeternus-Spes

Genre: Fanfiction (Samurai Deeper Kyo), Angst, Romance, mild Shounen-ai

Summary: 'YukimuraxSasuke. Major angst fic... 'As the last of Sasuke's consciousness fades, he manages to whisper, “What would you want with a useless failed experiment like me, Yukimura? Love is something given to other humans. Not things…” '

Aeternus-Spes spins a sad and torturous tale around Sasuke and Yukimura as the former, blinded and wounded in a fight, thinks of himself as nothing more but a tool for Yukimura to manipulate.

Does Yukimura have a different opinion, though?

Opinion: This is one of the fanfiction where the writer has immense potential and vast imagination, but it is sadly hampered by a poor grasp of English. Remember reading fanfiction where you wished that the author would improve the English, but you hung on reading because it kept you hooked? Well, this is one of them. Despite that, the fanfiction is thrilling, grasping, and overall, sad.

With Sasuke as the main character, you can be sure to expect a lot of self-inflicted torture and angst, seeing as Sasuke is the type to have to do everything until it is perfect. He blames himself for not protecting Yukimura; in short, he blames himself for almost everything. Typical of many plots, he wishes to get stronger in order to better protect Yukimura.

However, his dreams are foiled as, in a fight against Tokugawa soldiers, he is rendered blind and close to death. Thinking of himself as useless baggage for Yukimura, he leaves with Akira and Hotaru, training with Akira every day in order to get accustomed to fighting blind. Later in the story, Sasuke begins to regain his sight, although the author leaves the story a little open-ended in case he/she gets another plot bunny.

If you think Sarutobi Sasuke is the awesomest, cute little ninja in Samurai Deeper Kyo, and you whole-heartedly support him with Yukimura, why don't you go and read this? However, steer clear if you absolutely dislike angst/torture...because this fic has lots of them. Sasuke-related, of course. (Did I mention he got all his fingers broken?)

This fic is written in the present tense. It might read a bit weirdly at first, but as you get on, the fic flows more smoothly than expected. Overall, it is a really good read if you're into SasukexYukimura angst.

Rating: 4 out of 5. Expect some really jerky grammar.

Loveless volume 1

Title: Loveless volume 1

Author: Kouga Yun

Genre: Shounen ai, slight fantasy

Summary: While most manga artists choose to depict girls or females as having cat ears and tails, Kouga Yun draws ears and tails to show a sign of 'immaturity' or as a way of showing that one is not yet an adult (ie. one has not has sex before. -.-''). When one becomes an 'adult', he or she loses their ears and tail. This is a very interesting and a rather new concept on the old method of using cat ears and tail to emphasize sexiness.

The story starts off with Aoyagi Ritsuka, the main character of Loveless. His older brother has recently died in an 'accident' – burnt to death while sitting in Ritsuka's very own seat in school. Seimei was a very polite and clever person – or so everyone else says during the funeral. What had really happened to cause his death? Was it an accident?

Or was it murder?

Ritsuka first starts unraveling the mysteries when he meets Soubi, who claims to be Seimei's Fighter unit. As explained in the manga, Fighter units fight and protect their Sacrifies – in Soubi's case, he is the Fighter, and Seimei was the Sacrifice. However, Ritsuka soon finds Seimei's last will – he hints at a murder conspiracy and tells Ritsuka (via the will) that Soubi, who once 'belonged' to Seimei, would now be passed on to his little brother, Ritsuka.

Opinion: I know, my summary sucked. I bet I got you all confused, didn't I? ^_^'' I'm not very good at explaining (which is why whenever someone asks me, “What's that book about?” I just shove the blurb under their noses. XD).

Yes, Loveless is a shounen ai themed manga, and although it might not be as explicit as Gravitation, I still believe this is much much better than Gravitation is. The art is neat and messy at the same time – it looks slightly messy, but it's a coordinated mess, if you get what I mean!

Ritsuka is adorable with his flattened ears and tail that sticks out. Apparently, there is some issue within Ritsuka – he has little to no memories of himself beyond the two years he has with Seimei (hence making Seimei a very important person in his life) and is slightly obsessed with taking pictures in order to retain those 'precious memories' that he has.

Another character that appears frequently in the manga include his friend, Yuiko. Yuiko is tall for her age, and likes Ritsuka very much, despite her once telling a would-be boyfriend that she would never date someone shorter than her. ^^ (Ritsuka is shorter than her!) Yuiko had a habit of referring to herself in third point of view, until Ritsuka made it a condition that she had to refer to herself as 'I' if she really wanted to be Ritsuka's friend.

Loveless also has an element of fantasy that includes spell battles. This is where the Fighter/Sacrifice pairs come in. They initiate and fight a battle using words. The more complex and well-strung words the sentences are, the more effective the spells. This is a very unique sort of battle indeed, and extremely interesting. See? You need more intellect than brawn to fight properly in Loveless!

Sacrifices take the damage for the team while the Fighter tries his or her best to protect their Sacrifices while using word spells to restrain the other team's Sacrifice. For every damage the Sacrifices receives, he or she is dealt a 'restrain' (read, in other words, kinky bondage! ^^) and once the Sacrifice is fully bound, the battle is lost. A team can only consist of two people who share the same 'name' (ie in the beginning of the manga, you will be meeting teams named Breathless, Sleepless and Fearless). Seimei Aoyagi and Soubi's 'name' was Beloved, but after Seimei died, Soubi joined Ritsuka (whose 'name' is, apparently, Loveless, the complete opposite). It is unheard of for a Fighter whose Sacrifice has died to join up with another Sacrifice. Their two 'names' clash with each other, thus effectively halving their power, but since Soubi seems to have almost unlimited power, they win most of their battles. =) ~rage-chan

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Ptolemy's Gate

Title: Ptolemy's Gate

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Genre: Children's novels, fantasy, magic

Blurb: Two thousand years have passed since Bartimaeus was at the height of his powers - invincible in battle and befriended by the great magician Ptolemy.

Now, trapped on Earth and treated with disdain by his master, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus finds his energies are fading fast. With Nathaniel preoccupied by the problem of a failing empire, and more rigid and insensitive than ever, the long-suffering djinni's patience is finally at an end.

Meanwhile, undercover in London, the fugitive Kitty Jones has been stealthily completing her research on magic and demons. She has a plan that she hopes will break the endless cycle of conflict between djinn and humans - but first she must uncover the secrets of Bartimaeus's past.

This extraordinary conclusion to the Bartimaeus Trilogy moves across the centuries and into unknown worlds. With disaster threatening everyone in London, the destinies of Bartimaeus, Nathaniel and Kitty are entwined for a final time. Together, they must defeat treacherous magicians, uncover a chilling conspiracy and face the most dangerous threat in the history of magic.

Worst of all, they must contend with each other...

Opinion: Ptolemy's Gate is the third and final book in the series Bartimaeus Trilogy. Although quite some time had passed since I'd read the second book and the third book, I still managed to enjoy the story completely. The Bartimaeus Trilogy is unique in the way that the author puts little notes at the bottom of the pages if he feels the need to note something. For some, this might prove to be intensely annoying, because although you don't want to be distracted by random little notes slightly irrelevant to the story, but being a true reader, your eyes can't help but to skim them.

Usually, I would have hated these notes. But oddly enough, I found them quite interesting and mildly humourous. Stroud writes with deft cleverness and light wit, and although the book is in first POV (I dislike first POVs) I enjoyed it tremendously.

The ending saddened me a little, though, with character death....

XDD No more spoilers! Go and read, and make sure you grab the first two copies too - The Amulet of Samarkand (book one) and The Golem's Eye (book two).

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Surgeon

Title: The Surgeon

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Genre: Thriller, crime

Summary: (Blurb) It is a hot sultry summer in downtown Boston, and homicide detective Thomas Moore is called back from holiday to be told there's a serial killer at large. This isn't just any serial killer. This is a predator who targets lone women, breaks into their apartments in the early hours of the morning, and commits bizarre ritualistic acts of torture on his victims before finishing them off. The killer's surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician working alongside unsuspecting doctors and nurses at the Pilgrim Medical Center; a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them in the most terrifying of ways.

As soon as Moore and his partner, Detective Jane Rizzoli, begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these Boston killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful surgeon with a mysterious past. Two years ago in another city she was the subject of a horrifying rape and attempted murder, but shot her aggressor dead.

Now she is being targeted by this new killer, who seems to know all about her past, her work at the Medical Center, what car she drives, and, crucially, where she lives. The man she believes she killed now seems to be stalking her once again, only this time he knows exactly where to find her, and nowhere – whether it is the ER, the squad room, the city morgue or even her apartment – is safe...

(Doesn't the summary sound much more neater and organized than mine??)

Opinion: This is honestly much more riveting and interesting than standard novels from writers like Iris Johansen and Julie Garwood (although I enjoy all authors as well). This novel has an element of darkness and evil that Johansen and Garwood somehow failed to implement. Ah well.

When I was reading about the killer slashing the women's throats and things, I could distinctly feel my own throat aching, that was how descriptive it was. I kept shuddering at the feel of blade scraping against bones, and I tell you, my imagination was in overdrive. It isn't a thrill-and romance sort of novel, but more thrill-and-murder kind, which is awesome for reading on a rainy and stormy day. ^_^

It's so brilliantly written that I absolutely crave for more!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pretear volume 1

Title: Pretear volume 1

Author: Kaori Naruse

Genre: Slight romance, fantasy, shojo

Summary: Himeno has always thought that she was an ordinary high school girl. Her mother passed away quite some time before, and Himeno and her father were never the rich family.

Until all of a sudden, her father remarries to a rich lady, and Himeno finds herself steeped in wealth and money, along with a stepmother and her two stepsisters.

One unexpected day, a boy accosts Himeno and leads her to an entirely new place, where she is surrounded by an almost illegally sexy group of guys and told that she is, most assuredly, the Pretear, and that she is their last hope to stop the Princess of Disaster who is hellbent on corrupting the world with darkness and, possibly, red snow. XD The Pretear is their leader and the guys are her Leafe Knights, each of whom control a certain ability (ie wind, snow, water etc) and are in charge of destroying the Princess of Disaster's dark seeds.

The Pretear is in charge of protecting the Leafe, the source of all life, and only the Pretear can create more Leafe. To protect the Leafe from the darkness, she has to merge with one of her knights, and thus borrow the knight's power to use in battle.

Opinion: Pretear is shojo through and through – a girl surrounded by pretty boys, changes her outfit with every different knight she merges with, with glittery art? Definitely shojo, and pinkishly so.

However, any shojo fan will like this, I think, although it doesn't appeal to me as much. I mean, Himeno changes her outfit every time she merges with someone different, and with seven different knights, she has eight outfits – including the one she's wearing. It's a classic story of girl being surrounded by hot guys, perhaps conveniently orphaned as well (some anime characters have their mothers dead, for some reason) with a rag-to-riches plot.

Himeno also annoys me sometimes (to admit it...) so it's not entirely the first book I would pick up from a pile of manga. Still, if you like classic plots (classic is cliched) do find some time to read Pretear.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

D.Gray Man volume 1

Title: D.Gray Man volume 1

Author: Hoshino Katsura

Genre: Fantasy, exorcism

Summary: D.Gray Man is set in a fictional 19^th century England where the Black Exorcists exist and roam the earth to find Innocence, a mysterious substance that is used to create weapons for the exorcists to destroy Akuma (demons) created by the Millenium Earl, the ultimate bad guy of the manga.

Allen Walker is the 15-year-old protagonist and apparently, he is a parasite exorcist, one of the rarer types who can change their bodies into weapons instead of relying on items such as swords. Allen's left hand is the weapon which, initially, could change into a huge claw (which looks rather out of proportionate most of the time XD) but later evolves into more sophisticated weapons including a light sword and a cannon of sorts. (I swear, this all sounds very Gary-Stuish but I still like him anyway!)

In this volume, we see Allen meeting the Black Order for the first time – he is sorely tested by the gatekeeper who declares him as an Akuma because of the cursed pentacle on his left eye (you shall find out about the curse in due time ;) ) and fearing an attack, the head of the exorcists sends out Kanda Yuu to destroy the 'Akuma' (who is actually poor Allen!).

Kanda is the typical Japanese samurai – he totes around a katana which he calls Mugen (if memory serves me) and is, incidentally, Japanese. He is an inch away from skewering Allen in the head when the head of the Order finally finds a letter of recommendation from one of their top generals regarding Allen Walker.

(And so, Allen was spared death. Phew!)

Kanda and Allen gets off on rocky terms, and Allen ends up with Kanda's nickname for him – bean sprout, or moyashi.

Opinion: The first volume isn't too bad overall. The art can be slightly...awkward (for lack of a better word) in some parts, but generally, it is excellently drawn. The plot is also well contrived with some exciting little bits thrown in. However (this is getting beyond volume 1) I feel that the characters turn into Gary Stus or Mary Stus (people who are too glorified for my liking). The exorcists seem to be almost undefeatable – as per usual shounen mangas, Allen loses his left arm (and therefore his Innocence weapon), but he miraculously manages to restore his left arm and not only that, he obtains a more powerful weapon.

Which is quite incredulous.

But I still say D.Gray Man is a manga worth reading (and an anime worth watching) if you enjoy shounen titles. Allen's experiences with his master (the general who recommended that he join the Black Order) is absolutely hilarious. Do not miss his account of how he learnt to cheat at cards! ^_^ ~rage-chan

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Links:

Anime News Network

Wikipedia's page on D.Gray Man

Want to buy? Try Amazon's D.Gray Man manga!

Black Cat volume 1

Title: Black Cat volume 1

Author: Kentaro Yabuki

Genre: Adventure

Summary: Train Heartnet and his partner, Sven, are Sweepers who bring criminals to the law (and collect the bounty on their head while they're at it). Early in the manga, they meet Eve, a girl who has has nanomachines injected into her bloodstream to enhance her fighting capabilities, and a master thief Rinslet (or should I say mistress thief..?).

However, all good manga have antagonists in them, and in Black Cat, it comes in the form of Creed and his Apostles. Creed's dream is to destroy the Chronos Numbers, an organization that Train himself once belonged to before becoming a 'stray cat', but to do that, he wishes to recruit Train to their side, as Train is an exceptional gunsman and has unearthly accurate shots.

The Chronos Numbers are, of course, absolutely against this. The top of the Numbers are originally twelve in number, but a special exception was made for Train Heartnet, who obtained the number thirteen and, along with it, a legend of bloodshed and death as he was dubbed the 'Black Cat' who brings bad luck to whoever who crosses his path.

Opinion: Black Cat has been very well drawn and illustrated and the plot has few holes as far as I can see. I absolutely love the art, and prefer the manga over the anime. Train's goofy attitude is classic and he adds a comic side to an otherwise serious plot. The side characters, Eve and Sven, each have their own classic 'dark' past, and they set off Train very nicely.

(There are some Numbers I like very much, one being the master of disguise, but I won't go into much detail here right now...)

Black Cat, despite being a shounen manga, doesn't have very many bloody and/or gory scenes. Sure, there's the usual splattering of blood and injuries, but the mangaka doesn't go out of his way to illustrate how a bloody, hacked off head would look like. =) Which is good, because even though I can stomach such images, I dislike them. I mean, I wouldn't like to be staring into an eyeball or something, 2D or not.

I feel that Black Cat is very nicely balanced, and spanning only 20 volumes, if you feel that you can afford to buy them, then I would recommend Black Cat very highly. ^_^ Enjoy reading! ~rage-chan

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.