I read nothing else but manga this month and all because I started a new series recommended to me after finishing The Demon Prince of Momochi Place. After the first three volumes, I took out the rest out of the library until it took me three weeks to catch up with this series. Curious to find out which series took over my attention, and what other new series I started with? Then read on.
1. Kamisama Kiss by Julietta Suzuki
Let me say that I was consumed with this series! I am caught up to volume twenty four and I am still waiting for volume twenty five at my library, but after reading all volumes back to back this month, I am now determined to start buying this series because I absolutely love it. This is the second best shojo series I have read since Yona of the Dawn. It all begins with a young girl name Nanami, forced out of her home after her dad abandoned her because of his gambling problems and debt. Before long, she meets a stranger after she saved him from a dog, and as a thank you, he gives her his place to stay in. But Nanami discovers that it is an abandoned shrine and inside lives a fox shinshi name Tomoe and two shikigami. It also turns out that Nanami has become a shrine deity!
A divine comedy this series does an incredible job introducing new characters and developing relationships especially between Nanami and Tomoe. I really had a lot of fun just watching Nanami and Tomoe together and was even more surprised that they once met each other in the past! Discovering how far their love for each other went was really touching and not only that, but Nanami helps Tomoe how to love humans so they can spend a life together. Nanami and Tomoe not only bring out the best in each other but they also grow and progress in the series that they become stronger when going against enemies.
This is a really fun romantic comedy series that I absolutely adore all the characters and the relationships and how they learn to overcome personal obstacles just to be with the one they love, even if it means breaking the taboo about ayakashi are forbidden to love a human. There were some arcs that I love more than others but the arcs did not tarnish my love for this series. If you’re into reading shojo I really recommend this to you because it is the best series I have read!
2. Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, manga by Virginia Nitouhei
A comfort manga about comfort food! The story behind this is straight forward: a Japanese style pub called Nobu opens to a fictional medieval European city of Eiteriach. The customers include a pair of slacker soldiers, a spoiled heiress, and an uptight tax collector. But when these citizens from the lower and upper classes enter in this strange establishment, they are served unfamiliar Japanese cuisine that whet their appetites and melt their troubles away.
I am already having a good time reading this six volume series. There are some over the top moments with characters trying out the food for the first time but that’s one of the reasons I enjoyed reading volume one, it’s just fun watching the character’s reactions and how they talk about the food that is served in front of them. I talked about how much I love reading about food in my last post and this was a perfect addition to that. If you are looking for a manga series without any plot and character development, but you are just looking for a really fun and cozy read about people enjoying really good food, then I recommend this. It’s a light and casual read and it will not take you too long to get through. The anime is also fun to watch too!
3. Gate 7 by CLAMP
It took awhile for me to wait for volume four but I am finally caught up with this series. The bad news is that this series has been on hiatus for a very long time and there are no news on whether or not CLAMP is going to return to this series.
The story begins with Chikahito visiting Kyoto on a trip until he runs into this mysterious child name Hana, and two other guys name Sakura and Tachibana fighting against a supernatural monster! Soon Chikahito becomes involved in their mystical world watching Hana and her friends battle supernatural beasts, except Chikahito is not sure if he wants to be involved in their war, but his immunity to their powers makes them believe that he is no ordinary awkward teenager.
Compared to the other early CLAMP series, this was the hardest to get into because the story and characters are influenced by Japan’s shogun war era. I don’t know anything about this time period so it was hard to follow who’s who without knowledge about this specific era in Japanese history. There are references in the back of each volume that talks about the character names and their real life history, but I find that it is an effort to flip back and forth from the references to the story just to figure out who they are and their historical background.
Overall the series has a lot of potential to open up with the characters. I am still curious about Chikahito and how he is somehow involved in this supernatural realty and how all of them are involved in our modern world. Chikahito is an open book person but he has the most mysterious background because no one except maybe Hana has any clue as to whether he has any special powers or else he wouldn’t be able to see the events unfolding in front of him.
It’s still too bad the series ‘ends’ after volume four because it would be nice to see how the story concludes and where the characters are heading in their mission to stop their mysterious arch nemesis. And since this series isn’t finished I don’t know how to recommend this to anyone unless you really love CLAMP as I do. Although you will have a better time finding Gate 7 at your library because the volumes are no longer in print!
4. Library Wars by Kiro Yumi
The story takes place in the near future and the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books that are considered unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections and with the help of local governments they form a military group called the Library Forces to defend themselves. Doesn’t the synopsis make you think about Fahrenheit 451? This is why I picked up volume one because this story sounds really different and something that I might enjoy but that was until I met the characters.
Meet Iku Kasahara who joined the Library Defence Force after being rescued by an officer who stepped in and protected her favourite book. She keeps calling her rescuer ‘prince’ which I thought was cheesy because he only did his job, but it was him who inspired her to join the Library Defence Force until she finds out her drill instructor hates her and so she finds her dream job a nightmare. I’m not sure why this particular instructor is so hard on Iku, I thought maybe it has something to do with her being a girl in a military force but it doesn’t seem like that, or maybe it is. Then you have this other guy who has top marks in everything and is a star student, and so when both he and Iku are recommended to join the Library Defence Force, they immediately hate each other because Iku can’t get along with him, and he thinks she doesn’t have what it takes to be in this special task force. I have seen this character relationship before and I didn’t expect to see it again in this manga.
Iku works hard but she can be a dunce sometimes in front of her male superiors. And when she is not training hard enough she complains about it to her room mate and friend. As you can see I did not mention the names of the other characters because they are forgettable and so is Iku, I did not care much for her. After reading volume one, I don’t think I am going to read the rest of this series because it’s just not for me. On the other hand, if you are looking for a series that makes you think about Fahrenheit 451, you can give this series a try and maybe you may like it more than I did.
Hoot Reads Books 