Little Queen

Title: Little Queen

Author: Yeon-Joo Kim

Genre: Manhwa, fantasy, magic

Summary: June is a candidate in the running for the selection of becoming the Queen of Light, the most revered position in the land. The Queen of Light’s duty is to keep the King of Darkness at bay as well and reign over the kingdom.

June has a rival, however. Lucia is widely considered by many to be the perfect candidate for the position – cool, poised and calm, Lucia is the epitome of grace and elegance while June is wild, brash and rough when compared to her. It seems clear that Lucia, and not June, is much more suitable for the position.

But as with every heroine in manga/manhwa titles, the protagonist must triumph over the enemies, so to speak. June appears to be a master at acting (even if she isn’t much good at anything else) and is able to charm her way through the judging panel, at least, and puts herself in the lead for the position of Queen of Light. Why she wants the position when all she can do in economics is to blow things up, but murky reasons lie deep beneath her scary exterior. June is determined – that much can be said for her – and for reasons of her own, she is dead set on protecting her childhood friend, Sejuru, who is said to be, in reality, a demon. And when June wants something, June will get it, no matter the means.

This manhwa is also a little of a love triangle as June finds Lucia liking Sejuru, but the problem is: Sejuru follows no other than June…for the time being, at least.

The manhwa sports plenty of action as well as demons crash into the Academy in the second volume, and if you enjoy pretty boys + action + a reasonably good plot, then try Little Queen. June, Sejuru and Lucia are characters not to be missed…not if you want June’s boot in your face. ^^

Opinion: Well, haven’t I said enough in the summary? Shojo manhwa with lovely characters. Is it just me, or are all manhwa so prettily drawn? Most of the ones I’ve read, anyway. It’s not as diverse as manga where I can find a million and one different styles of drawing. Korean manhwa seems to adhere to a basic rule of drawing – and I’m not complaining much yet because it’s really quite pretty and pleasing to the eyes.

I find Sejuru to be the typical ‘pretty boy’ although I would prefer it if he did away with that headband thing that he wears…he would look much nicer without it, methinks.

All characters have that bit of angst within them, and Sejuru is no different. By the end of the volumes, you might want to squeal and huggle him a little. ^_^

Oh dear, this isn’t supposed to be entirely about Sejuru. Pretty boy-ness has taken over me~!

I think that Little Queen’s plot is confusing in the first volume (it abruptly jumps back in time without much of a warning) but then it evens out and gets better in the next three volumes. You might be confused a little at some points, but generally you’ll understand everything perfectly. June is a refreshing character who does things her way and manages to bulldoze through everything and everyone except Sejuru, who seems to obey her every whim. It’s rather heartening to see these two stick through everything together (although Lucia does get jealous!).

Yuki, another character who is on the judging board for the Queen of Light, is determined to prevent June from holding the revered position. He instead chooses Lucia as the ideal candidate, but as the judging board is made up of many other people other than him, will he succeed…?

(It helps that Yuki’s a sweet ass too, doesn’t it? All cute and lovely boys. Priests who smoke. Hmm.) ~rage-chan

Rating: 4 out of 5 for the whole series, and 3.5 out of 5 for the first volume.

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.

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!

Title: Fantasy Trap

Author: Prince-in-Disguise

Genre: Action, Adventure, Suspense

Status: In-progress - four chapters up at time of post

Summary: Athrun and his friends test drive a virtual reality arcade game, but something goes wrong and the seemingly harmless game soon turns deadly when they become trapped inside it! Post GSD. Main cast: Athrun, Lacus and Kira. Shinn and Meyrin also feature. ~quoted verbatim

Opinion: Prince-in-Disguise writes reasonably long chapters and it's none of the fluffy sort of writing. Her chapters are the long, serious kinds, although she does try to inject humour. Athrun, Kira and Lacus start playing a virtual reality game in the arcade, but halfway through, the game turns menacing and locks them in the cyber world. I enjoyed this tremendously (seeing as I'm starving for virtual reality game fics now) and I really recommend this to Gundam Seed/Destiny fans. ^^

I also think it's fitting for Lacus to be a mage. I mean, look at her - she's the very countenance of a mage. And if you want to read about Athrun getting wings....*grin* ~rage-chan

Rating: 4 out of 5