Lots of shoujou... and some FMA!

*May include spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

Okay... you're not going to believe me but I just checked back here to blogger now (Sunday) and my scheduled post had not been posted... I even have proof:

Look at that! What the hell happened.
Anyway, here is the post that was supposed to be live, as follows.


I've got no idea what's wrong with me... but recently all I've been doing is reading romance manga. Where the hell did this urge come from??! Am I coming down with something?? Must be that...

Misao and Kyou

In any case, I started with Black Bird this week and it was all cool and awesome until it turned into another Twilight story. Yuk. A demon falls for a mortal girl, they want to get married, yada yada, whatever. Sure, it existed before Twilight, but that doesn't make it any better. Although it actually started pretty well and I thought it was going to be a bit more meaningful, they managed to crush my hopes. In the end it was just winding and winding problems preventing them to be happy. What the hell is up with that anyway? I guess there wouldn't be anything to write about if you don't go for the problems in the relationship, but since it was also listed as fantasy/action I was expecting something a bit more... high paced? Brutal? I don't know, SOMEthing. It wasn't exactly horrible either though, I suppose it was better than a random regular shoujou manga since they actually had to overcome supernatural problems. And they did show some blood and brutality... hey I guess it wasn't so bad after all. But something was lacking. Don't ask me 'what exactly'. Shiranai!

Mei and Yamato

Then I moved on to Sukitte Ii Na Yo or Say "I love you" which I had actually seen as an anime already. But I wanted to see what was going to happen next so I figured I'd just read it from the beginning. Otherwise I wouldn't know the characters they built in the manga. I actually liked it. The plot was pretty plain but there were realistic characters and lots of side stories so I didn't have to listen (well, read...) the female lead Mei whine about everything. People were broken and insecure but they found their solutions and the whole story was dynamic, well built. I also liked the main point the manga had: if you have a problem, get a grip and talk to your partner about it. Geez. You don't have to walk around thinking all kinds of BS all day long, suppressing your thoughts and feelings. Since it's still ongoing I might check back later on!

Chiwa and Hokuto

Okay, the next one I started just yesterday. It's name was Hapi Mari - something that should be Happy Marriage. Looking at all these names and genres I just have to take a good look in the mirror and figure out what the hell I was thinking when I opened the manga. I haven't finished it yet but what was I expecting? Obviously there were going to be problems regarding an arranged marriage turning into a real one. Duh. Well I finished the fifth volume and it's turned into somewhat of a The Bold and The Beautiful story. Family business successions and the relatives all being at each others throats. And of course spice that up with a company president's wife a.k.a. female lead who (naturally) has a bit of an inferiority complex. Well, still... It was better than a random shoujou I guess. The story was a bit different and it was aimed more towards older readers. But the topic - not sure if this kind of a thing is actually on anybody's mind - trying to make your husband fall for you? I suppose it might be in a society where you're not really supposed to speak your mind. Right? Right? Damn it must be hard living in Japan as a woman. Who the hell could be happy with a supportive role only. When the family expects you to set aside your own aspirations and help out your man full time. Then again, it's not like women could get to very high positions there anyway, right? Might as well support your husband then <.< Damn you Japanese people - you've got it all figured out!

To balance the massive amount of romance related topics, I started the original FMA yesterday morning too. Why have I not seen it already? Because I watched Brotherhood first and it is to this very day my favorite anime of all time. I loved the story and the characters - especially Ling Yao and Greed. Oh boy, when they mixed those two up, was I psyched or what!!! And those voice actors - damn! It was Mamoru Miyano and Yuuichi Nakamura together - who can resist!
Anyway, back then when I figured I should watch the original too, I started it and after the first episode I couldn't bring myself to continue. Since I really loved the characters and the plot I kind of didn't want to lose what those had brought me. I felt like the value of Brotherhood would diminish if I saw something less epic.
But now I've decided it's time to see the first version of the series too - just so I could decide for myself which one is better. I've heard though that Brotherhood is closer to the original manga. I wonder if that's true? I can't bring myself to confirming that just yet. But I will definitely make a decision about the two anime series.
So far it seems that Brotherhood started with more of a bang and pulled me right in, whereas the regular FMA starts out a bit less core topic related and goes deeper as it evolves. Then again I just started it so can't say anything for sure!

I'm hoping to finish it by next week. So maybe I'll devote the next post to comparing them two? Who knows *shrug*.