Daydream Sanctuary Features

Friday, October 21, 2011

[ Manga Discovery ] Kataribe no List


Kataribe no List
by Fujiya Izuco

[ Demographic: SHOUNEN ]
Akitsune, a grandchild of an owner of an antiques shop, can determine an item's/antique's value by just looking at them. One day he gets possession of a mysterious old watch. He can see that it's VERY valuable.... but he didn't expect it to be SO valuable since it's a magical item that can restore things to the way they were 24 hours before!
(2 chapters read as of the date this blog entry was posted)

POTENTIAL: A- (AMAZING!) FAVORITISM: 4 Hearts (ADORATION)

Motivation: (What Made Me Check It Out)
FAIRY TALES *_*
Curses: (What Seems to be Bad About It)
I will only complain if the hero and the heroine end up falling in love with each other. That's just so... expected. Please keep the hero's unrequited love, or make him end up with her instead.
I don't like it that it fools me that it's going to follow cliche then later proves that it actually isn't. Well, I'm happy that it isn't, but if it's going to happen often it's gonna be quite frustrating ;_;
Praises: (What Seems to be Good About It)
Main story events, putting aside the references, seem typical shounen... but later turns out to be not. Characters appear sterotypical as well, but later they seem to be people you don't see often in the animanga universe. It deviates from the typical, and has been pretty original.
Also, though fairy tales are often considered to be for girls or for the super young ones, this series managed to fit in those fairy tales in something very shounen (it's action packed; if the dominant genre in shoujo is romance, to shounen it's action). Fairy tale loves may be allured to this; but fantasy shounen freaks would be just as attracted to it xD
Bias: (What's Keeping Me Hooked to It)
I'm soooooooooooooo loving the fairy tale references.
Fangirl: (What I Love in It)
I don't think my favorite character has showed up yet. But so far I like Aschenputell... she's so pretty xD Mushroom boy's also pretyt amusing, haha.
Nostalgia: (What It Reminds Me of)
Psycho Busters (kinda spoilery if I say why... has something to do with the main character's ability), Dictatorial Grimoire (also rich in fairy tales xD), Cardcaptor Sakura (magical item/spirit collecting), Tousei Gensou Hakubutsushi (antiques and the supernatural stuff in them)
Overall:
A wonderful shounen fantasy series with gorgeous artwork and impressive story! It's rich in fairy tale references... (and it's not only focused on one or several of them). I love how it acknowledged that fairy tales aren't exactly innocent, but they're dark and dangerous as well... just like the original ones. It's cool that it connected the fairy tales to antiques, which are usually related to something supernatural (ghosts and spirits) or historical. How it applied such references on its story had been very impressive; making the series overall so unique and promising.
Those familiar with Grimm's fairy tales will find this fun, but those who don't would also find it enjoyable of course, since the series will fill you on important bits of what the original tale was about~