Manga Discoveries: Flower Boy, Modern Samurai, & Smooching Cat (ft. Liar Game Drama Season 2)

[ LIVE ACTION DRAMA MARATHONED ]

Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally I've finished the whole second season and even the movie. Slept until 2 AM just to finish it, ahahahhaha!
Well, of course, the manga is still better.... in all aspects. I didn't see the point of making the series have Biblical references though (the vaccine thing became angel/demon stuff, and the Garden of Eden thing)... hhhmm... but it was okay. It just got my mom more intrigued, ahaha.
And oh, the drama gave me a nicer Yokoya, a female who's sort of like a Yokoya + Akiyama combo, a Nao saying she wants to see Akiyama more, and an ending. So I'm pretty satisfied xD Not to mention there was a scene like this and a poster image (not sure if it's authentic though) like this. Those two main characters keep on getting sexier, huh? xD Teehee~
Wah! Hey manga! If you plan to make the series much longer still... at least gimme more Akiyama x Nao scenes, will ya? Lack of OTP scenes is driving me crazy, haha!

[ NEW SERIES SPOTTED ]

From Left to Right: Hanamatsuri, Samurai Drive, Tenchi Shinmei
Favoritism: Hanamatsuri > Samurai Drive > Tenchi Shinmei

Oneshot Collection: Liar Game - Roots of A

I used to make individual posts for each recent oneshot I've read; but I want to read a lot but don't have enough time to write a post for each titles, so lately I've been doing them by batches. However, if it's a oneshot or oneshot collection that turned out to be really really good, I can't stop myself from typing my praises about it. Hehe. So the first I shall glorify would be this one:


Liar Game - Roots of A
by Shinobu Kaitani

This volume contains the prequel of a famous psychological series called "Liar Game", and also a number of other interesting oneshots. This is something a huge Liar Game fan shouldn't miss! But don't just read the oneshot prequel, because the other stories are just as good!

[ Liar Game: Roots of A ]

This oneshot is set 5 years before the beginning of the Liar Game series wherein Akiyama Shinichi was still a 22-year old psychology college student. Him and his classmates were assigned to do profiling by their professor, and all they're given was a letter and the only thing told to them was where it was found.

[ Nine Darts ]

The main character isn't good in anything except for playing darts, or so he claims. He has been desperate in looking for a job, when finally he found work in some "rehabilitation center". That place isolates Green Disease patients, and they're being treated even worse than prisoners and are forced to do manual labor without pay. Something's not right about that place . . .

[ Three Phase - The Forbidden Divination]

A powerful woman in the business world one day told a fortune teller to determine her fortune, but she tested him first by telling her the reason why she wants her fortune to be asked in the first place. He failed to give the correct answer, thus she announces to everyone around on how incompetent he was. But the next day, he meets that fortune teller again . . . which he says to be out of coincidence. He still tells the wrong predictions but on the second time they met she began to wonder how he knew her name."

[ @Lovers ]

The main character had experience a love-at-first sight with his girlfriend, and they've been going steady for a year. However, he thinks their social upbringing has a huge gap that he thought of pretending to be a rich guy. He loves her, but he can't enjoy being with her because of that problem. One day, he hears about @Lovers, a website that will help you find a perfect match once you've registered. He tries it out for fun, and meets a girl named Satsuki online. Later, he got so hooked to it that he's starting to think more of Satsuki than his actual girlfriend!

[ The Tale of Shinobu Kaitani's Pet Dog ]

Vega is the mangaka's pet dog which he named after his favorite racehorse. He loves his dog but he seems to have problems with it . . .

You know, all of oneshots in this collection (excluding the omake about the mangaka and his dog I guess) had actually been predictable. At least to me. However, even if you're already aware of the possible twists, it still had some interesting twists you wouldn't anticipate. The overall story would still remain interesting, creative, and fascinating!

Take the Liar Game prequel for instance. Those who are familiar with the series shouldn't be surprised that Akiyama would be the only one to figure out the correct answer in that profiling assignment. In someway it had been a cliche because it followed the "only main characters know best" shounen formula. However, how he figured it out had been an interesting twist and something you wouldn't expect him to do. How he resolved the problem had been remarkable and I don't think you need to do research to validate the reasonings he has stated. Overall oneshot had been a good one, despite the flaws of being petty predictable and the little cliches/stereotypes it has added.

The same goes for the other oneshots in this story. Nine Darts has a nice moral lesson to share, and it had been a touching story with a pleasant ending. The Forbidden Divination had been the most interesting for me, because I'm a sucker for the occult and psychic stuff . . . divination included of course. Unlike the other oneshots aside from Liar Game, its story can still continue! I really really wish it will have a series! Oh please work on this after Liar Game Shinobu-sama *_* The leading guy entertains me so much~ Speaking of entertainment, the omake about the mangaka's dog had been really cute and hilarious! I don't care if they were true or not. Haha! Lastly, I never thought that the "love at first sight" idea could be explained in a technical way until I've read @Lovers. That was so awesome! And it was a very lovely romance oneshot~