Babble about two manga series...

[candyland]

Mini-tacos make me a happy girl *om nom nom*

And now it is time to discuss the two manga series I've been speeding through. One I read over the course of several days...and the other I'd already read half of, and I just decided to plow through it all. In one sitting. Not too bad, really--only thirty chapters ^_~ And I tried to avoid any major spoilers. I think it's all more or less safe ^_~

SPECIMEN A: CHRONO CRUSADE

I was a little unsure, but it was one I'd been wanting to read for a while. And I wound up liking it quite a bit. Not like "ZOMG FAVE 4EVA!" or anything, but it was an interesting story with some cool stuff going on. Also...Chrono was rather adorable at times ~♥



Might as well just get this part out of the way right at the top--the shipping. Chrono/Rosette = love. Joshua/Fiore = at some point I fell in love with this pairing and for the life of me I can't figure out why.

I can't believe I didn't catch on about who Fiore was...but at the same time, I can totally believe it. I think it's a "hindsight is twenty-twenty" thing. But that was a nice little addition. Because honestly...up until that was dropped in, I was trying to figure out exactly why we needed Stella, aside from summoning random things to haul the hero's biscuits out of the fire.

Rosette alternated between being annoying and being sort of kick-ass. Ultimately, I think I liked her. Chibi!Chrono was cute. Demon!Chrono was badass. Joshua was creepy and badass at the same time.

The ending made me go *flaaaaaaaaaail* And I liked it. Bittersweet ending is bitter. And sweet~ Together again, at the very end *happysighs*




SPECIMEN B: KAMIKAZE KAITOU JEANNE

Opposite ends of the spectrum, much? XD We go from demons to...well, demons, but a different kind of demons! *wisenods* How about this--CC is shounen, KKJ is the epitome of shoujo. So here, behold my incredibly disjointed throughs :D



Ships: Fin/Access (SO CUTE!) and Maron/Chiaki (to a much lesser degree)

Time to get something really shallow out of the way--I love the way Arina Tanemura draws hair. Especially the long hair some of the girls have. It's so detailed and it looks so pretty! A lot of her artwork is pretty and detailed--the folds in the clothes are something else I noticed--but the hair! I don't know why!

...and I also have a great weakness for chibis. And she has a lot of them :D

Overall, it was fairly typical shoujo fare. Girl with magical powers (Maron) is on a mission, meets boy with magical powers (Chiaki) who is a real ass at first...but you know they're going to wind up together. The first time they meet, he gets a nice view of her bra. True love, right there. Oh, and there are angels and demons and treason and lots of big teary eyes. You know the drill.

In short: pretty to look at, nothing truly groundbreaking or earth-shaking, but still pleasant enough to read, even amidst the glaring cliches and contrived occurances...oh, and the near-rape scene. For a minute, I was worried O_O Didn't think it was "that kind" of manga.

But first, it's time for my one major WTF moment: they make this whole big deal about Jeanne's power depending on her purity. So we get beaten over the head with the notion that Maron has to be a virgin. Okay, whoop-dee-doo, she's all pure and virginal and shit. We get it. And then she has to fight for the fate of the world/God/her boytoy/etc. Good deal. I support the world not being destroyed. Especially because I live on it.

...SO WHY IN THE NAME OF LIBERACE DID SHE DECIDE THAT THE NIGHT BEFORE THIS BIG BATTLE WAS A REALLY GOOD TIME TO BOINK CHIAKI? IN GOD'S PALACE, NO LESS??

kaitodoushi, these are the things that make me lean towards your viewpoint on shoujo.



I picked up a book at the MS library today. It's one that jeva_chan recommended a while ago, and I spotted it and snagged it. It's called Inkheart. It's the first in a trilogy. I'm really excited about reading it!

Also, I hate my uterus.

That is all.

Comments

[kaitodoushi.livejournal.com]

You mean that it's stupid and has no plot or character/relationship delevopment? Cause yeah, as said, that sounds like major WTF.

Also, I hate my uterus.
I hate mine too... >_< *stabs*

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

...to be fair, SOME of them have character development XD This one had one character who came along pretty nicely. And not all of them have stupid plots~ *hangs Princess Tutu and the Fruits Basket ANIME in front of you*

Oooh, stab mine too!

[atiko.livejournal.com]

BCUZ SHE'S LYKE THE REINCARNATION OF EVE WHO ALWAYS WAS A LITTLE REBELLIOUS AND APPARENTLY GOD WAS JEAOUS OF ADAM AND SO HE NOW FORGIVES MARON FOR DOIN THE NASTY WITH CHIAKI

... or something?
That whole setup made me headdesk so hard that I kind of forgot what happened. Anyway, loved and agreed with your comments on both series. ;D

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

ZOMG THE H0R WENT AND CHEATED ON GOD AND STUFF. DOUBLE YEW-TEE-EFF.

Hee~ Like I said--pretty to look at, and I did develop soft spots for the angels (Fin and Access~ *snuggles*), but it didn't feel really groundbreaking. I liked Cardcaptor Sakura better for magical girl series.

[dagronrat.livejournal.com]

*snickers* Oh I loved KKJ, used to go out of my way to watch on the german channel on my parents' satelite. 8D It was fun, but the ending of the anime is very contrived/different. Not that the manga's ending is all that better but...

Fin~♥ Access~♥
And yes, the biggest awesome of the series was probably the colour art.

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the anime--just read through the manga on OneManga. It's typical shoujo fare, really. Cute and pretty, but the substance is...lacking XD

But yes, Fin and Access are loooooove~ *gg*

[dagronrat.livejournal.com]

Hee.

When I discovered the series on tv, my sis' looked for scanlations (since France didn't have the manga) and could only find a text translation. She bought the manga in Japanese and we had a good time reading it from printed text + manga. XD

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

I've taken to reading a lot more manga lately, as opposed to watching anime...simply because it's faster. I read the entire thirty chapters of the KKJ manga last night in one sitting. It would take a lot longer to watch the anime.

...on the other hand, some are more awesome as anime XD *pokes Ghost Hunt* I love the manga, but the anime just gave it all some extra oomph. I think it was Urado ^_~

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Maron has sex with Chiaki in God's Palace?! .___.

Okay, I've never been very interested in reading/watching that series, and that information doesn't help. XD I love Arina's arguable biggest hit, though: Full Moon wo Sagashite. Both anime and manga versions of it are great with me, and it's rare for me to like both. XD

And the uterus picks the very worst times to be mean! ;__;

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

Yup. Right there at the end. Classy, yes?

Full Moon is on my list to read--it's also up on OneManga. I already know that I like the song "Eternal Snow" from the anime version. Figure I'll give the manga a go ^_~ I do like shoujo, but I find myself growing more and more picky about it.

Yes. Yes, it does ;~; *clings*

[gomath02.livejournal.com]

Uterii suck. I hear ya. I'd sell mine on eBay if they'd allow it.

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

...how much do you think one of those would go for? *plots evil*

[ytak.livejournal.com]

A uterus wouldn't be such a bad thing if it didn't decided to bleed once a month and cause cramps of doom.

We can talk about Chrono Crusade when you're finished. ^_^ A little tidbit about the title. The manga-ka wanted the title to be "Chrono Crusade" in Japan but "Chrono Trigger" had precidence over it, so he went with "Chrno Crusade." He got it the way he wanted in English. ^_^

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

Yes...I agree >_>;;

I am finished reading the manga~ We can has talk now! And yeah, I glanced at the Wikipedia article. Had a whole little section about the title spelling *laugh* :D

[ytak.livejournal.com]

The ending is so bittersweet. I'm both sad and happy when I read it. The last meeting of Chrono and Rosette is so touching. It brings tears to my eyes.

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

I know! Poor Rosette was so sad... *gg*

I just was having trouble figuring out if he was dead and had come back for her, or if he was alive and he just came back to see her right before she died...or if it's open to interpretation. Because I sort of have a fic idea that hinges on that very question XDD

[ytak.livejournal.com]

I know. But at least she got to see him one more time.

I always got the feeling that he was not able to make it back until then, like he was thrown to another place and had to fight his way back. But I like your thought that he was dead and came for her. That leaves the question, where do reformed demons go when they die?

[candy--chan.livejournal.com]

Yes!! *wibbles*

*nod* That makes sense too. But my hopelessly romantic side likes the idea of him coming back to "collect" her, as it were. And it does pose an interesting question--where would he go? Could he go to Heaven if he did enough good--which I think Chrono did? Granted, the same question could be asked about Joshua... *ponders*

[ytak.livejournal.com]

Not quite a happy ending but it wasn't an angstfest either. I thought it fit.

*nods* It does bring up questions. I think Joshua would. He wasn't exactly himself and he's doing what he can to atone. Kind of like Kenshin ('cept he went in of his own free will). Chrono had to overcome... programming (?) to be a better person.