Manga Mondays #130: Death Note vol. 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Manga Mondays Meme!

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 2 and a half years ago. It's always been a personal feature, but now I'm going to try turning it into a meme. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme would be a good way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Death Note vol. 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Summary

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal...or his life?

Boredom
Light tests the boundaries of the Death Note's powers as L and the police begin to close in. Luckily Light's father is the head of the Japanese National Police Agency and leaves vital information about the case lying around the house. With access to his father's files, Light can keep one step ahead of the authorities. But who is the strange man following him, and how can Light guard against enemies whose names he doesn't know?(courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

Starting a new manga series is always a treacherous endeavor. Each series has its own feel, own drawing style, own cast of characters, etc. I often find that the plots are confusing for the first several volumes and it takes me awhile to get invested in the story.

Feature and Follow Friday #124

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

What's Your Favorite Twilight Movie?

All good things must come to an end. The cinematic adventures of the Twilight Saga are finished (at least the first incarnation).

There have been five movies, four years, four directors, and two Victorias. The actors grown and changed in their acting abilities, whether you like them or not. Their hairstyles have changed significantly, often for the worse. Each film has a unique feel to it entirely apart from the plot.

Which movie was your favorite?

Twilight - the first movie - is far and away my favorite. In some ways, it's the weakest film. Much of the acting is terrible. Rob couldn't decide whether to speak in a British or an American accent. The CGI was laughable. The script was so cheesy that you could easily spend much of the movie laughing at it.

And yet...

It has a raw energy that none of the other films captured. From watching her other films, I've noticed that Catherine Hardwicke has a distinct style of manic craziness. She really is good at capturing the power of teen emotions on camera. It showed in Twilight. Even with the weakness of the actors and the script, I couldn't help but feel the chemistry between Bella and Edward every second they were together. Her choice of a dark color palate only highlighted the edginess of the film.

However, I think by far the most significant thing Twilight had going for it was the lack of expectations. No one thought it would be a huge hit - not the production studio, the actors, Stephenie Meyer, the director. The low budget hurt the cinematic prettiness of the film, but it was a gift in every other way. 

Catherine was very smart to pick largely unknown actors to star in Twilight. As far as I can tell, there was no drama on set, no egos to contend with. The specter of fame did not hang over anyone's head. It looked like the actors were extremely grateful to be there and were having a lot of fun. It's amazing how much that can affect my enjoyment of a movie. Plus, my perception of the characters was not colored by the gossip I'd read about the actors playing them. That especially affected my view of the last film (Interestingly, I never even thought about Rob and Kristen's personal drama. Ashley/Alice irritated me more).

From an objective standpoint, I think the best films of the series were probably Eclipse and Breaking Dawn Part 1. But Twilight is the movie that I will watch over and over.

How about you? Which was your favorite movie out of the five? And why?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3) by Aimee Carter

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3) by Aimee Carter

Publish Date: February 26, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Movie Review: Breaking Dawn Part 2

I finally got around to seeing Breaking Dawn Part 2. I'd wanted to go on Friday, but I had a busy weekend full of travel, in-laws, and buying a new car! I saw the film this afternoon and am still somewhat in shock.

*I don't consider anything in my review to be a spoiler, but if you're very picky about spoilers, I'd steer clear.

Check out my review of Breaking Dawn the book too!

Overall, I liked Breaking Dawn Part 2, but it is not my favorite movie in the Twilight saga. I'm not entirely sure why this is. Maybe I'll like it better when I see it again. Each of the Twilight movies have had multiple cringe-worthy moments. BD2 is not unusually high in those moments, but they are bothering me more right now. Probably because they're fresh in my mind.

Manga Mondays #129: Dengeki Daisy vol. 10 by Kyouski Motomi

Manga Mondays Meme!

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 2 and a half years ago. It's always been a personal feature, but now I'm going to try turning it into a meme. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme would be a good way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Vampire Knight vol. 14 by Matsuri Hino

Summary

After orphan Teru Kurebayashi loses her beloved older brother, she finds solace in the messages she exchanges with DAISY, an enigmatic figure who can only be reached through the cell phone her brother left her. Meanwhile, mysterious Tasuku Kurosaki always seems to be around whenever Teru needs help… Could DAISY be a lot closer than Teru thinks?

A powerful organization that was after Kurosaki’s “Jack Frost” virus suddenly falls apart, but Kurosaki can’t rest easy since Akira was somehow involved. Furthermore, Akira tells Kurosaki that Teru is still a target! Can Kurosaki protect Teru from Akira’s menacing schemes?(courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

I wonder if Motomi-san's contract requires her to make a manga series with a specific number of volumes. Probably not, but it feels like the series is stagnating. After so many volumes where the plot took important leaps forward, the last volume or two have been the same thing again and again.

Feature and Follow Friday #123

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.