Durarara!! - Episode 2

My favorite character, Izaya, had a lot of screentime in this episode. How can I not be pleased?
But honestly, even if I put him aside, this episode had still been terrific! I would really want to applaud to the director of this show. It's so brilliant!

[ RECAPS ]

The opening theme in this episode featured a few recaps of the previous episode. This is much better to refresh your memory on what just happened rather than having a narrator tell you what happened so far in the first few minutes of the episode. The human memory isn't that bad that you need to narrate the summary of events for them to recall.

Ah well, it's not that it's bad to have a narrator in the episode. I just hate hearing a narrator's voice during recaps, especially if they sound boring. Like with the narrator in this episode, her voice makes me so sleepy. It didn't help that I was watching the episode at night and the bed is right infront of me. It's nice that the narrator's giving hints (or saying explicitly) of how the characters feel and what you may expect in the future of the series . . . but still . . . that voice. And how she narrates it. Uuuuggghh . . . I think it might be more fun if they just let the audience speculate on their own. I don't wanna hear the narrator again. I hope it's just for this episode because of that extra character's story.

[ DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ]

The events early in this episode actually happened around the same time as episode one's. But this time, we see it in a different perspective. It's cool to see what the main characters have been doing at that same period of time. What's cooler is that though this various cast don't have much relation to each other, the story connects them.

I think you could already watch this episode without watching the first one because it could actually stand on its own. It already provided the necessary recaps that you didn't need to recall what happened in the previous episode. The only thing that made the first episode more first-episodish is that it gives the audience an introduction of the show's setting (Ikebukuro), its main plot (which I believe is the mystery behind the headless rider, and the dangers of that neighborhood, particularly the gangs http://tinypic.com/and the dangerous people among the normal crowd), and its primary characters (which I think are the black rider and Mikado).

[ SUICIDE ]

This episode told us the story of the kidnapped girl. From the previous episode, she just apeared to be a girl who met someone online but got tricked and kidnapped. But there's actually more to that because, she's actually a suicidal teenager. She has problems with her father's affair. She couldn't take it and wants to disappear. Then she meets someone online who's just like her. So when she was invited to die together with him, that gave her courage to do what she thinks she wants to do.

I believe the desire to kill oneself isn't exactly a new thing in Japan, especially that they actually have a custom/ritual of it in history. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, if not the highest (and that problem keeps on getting worse). Ikebukuro is no exception; suicide didn't seem to be a surprise anymore to its citizens. Many of the Japanese people who kill themselves are actually in old age actually, but it's still a fact that the youth also has a large percentage among the age groups that engage in suicide. Internet suicide had been a trend (incidents didn't only occur in 2004). There had been groups like suicide lubs and there are a lot of news/reports/story about them.
I find it a sad reality that a lot of young people want to kill themselves out of shallow, if not stupid, reasons. They get affected too much; they jump into conclusions; they get depressed/emo/angsty so easily. Having an easy life is difficult, but finding an easy escape from it makes one weak and foolish. I don't think the youth of the next generation will change much . . . especially that the world is getting more and more chaotic.

[ SET-UP ]

It's hard to tell if the girl had been lucky or unfortunate about it, but the guy whom she had become friends with happened to be some philosophical psychopath.

Some of the few twists/surprises that this episode has revealed behind her abduction are that:
1) The Nakura-san she first met is fake
2) The real Nakura-san was the one who ordered for her to be kidnapped
3) But it's also the real Nakura-san who had her rescued

As you can see from what he has done, he was just playing/toying/messing with her. He made her go through a lot for the sake of his fun.
However, he's also the one who's trying to point out to her that what she's doing is absurd; and what she truly wants is not to die.
From that you can say that he has good intentions, but he has this personality who doesn't really care about other's wellbeing and who enjoys seeing people's anxious faces. He messes her up once again by taunting her to be afraid of what she claims she wants to do.
Since he's such a good manipulator, even at the end she does what he wants. How frightening this guy is capable of.

[ NEW HOPE ]

I feel relieved that the story in this episode had been about a suicidal teenager, it ended with a lesson discouraging teens to do such an act. Two of the main characters help her realize it: First is, yes, the crazy informant; and the other is the myterious headless rider.

The biker saves her on her latest suicide attempt, and tells her that the world isn't as cruel as you take it is. Ironically, that is coming from someone that is not particularly human. But I'm happy that the girl didn't protest (like, "no, you're wrong! How could you do this to me? I wanna die already! Waaah") and she quickly understood the message that's given to her. She tried to changed her views on her situation and decided to forgive the people that gave her such anxieties. Thanks to that, she had a new life and became happier. She wishes now to be able to help others and be able to say those same words that moved her to change.
Seeing life on a positive note in this chaotic society. Seeing a spark of hope admist the madness. It's beautiful.
A lot of other shounen shows teaches some morals (like by trying your best, it's important to help others, one should protect people, world peace, etc.) But there are other problems that the youth is concerned about that isn't that explored in most shounen shows: problems within the family and the "motivation" to kill oneself. Frighteningly, these cases are not only prevalent in Japan, but in other parts of the world. I love shows that tacle contemporary issues, and encourages you to do the nicer thing, if you don't think it's the appropriate thing (suicide has a lot of philosophical and religious arguments o_O). Life sucks, but it's still something to treasure =D

[ SCHOOL ]

I was really really relieved that even though our main character is someone new in the neighborhood, it's not the typical "transfer student" thing. I'm sooooo sick of that. Uniforms aren't in sailor uniforms either (I've seen so many anime school settings like that, and I have enough of it from watching Sailormoon x_X). Anyway, this episode shows the usual ritual of first-day-of-schools. Students go to the entrance ceremony, they introduce themselves, and so on.

Speaking of the entrance ceremony, Mikado and Kida were so cute~ LOLz . . .okay, it looks like we have a perverted teacher in this episode and he has tastes. I don't think this show aims perverted fanservice though. It just happened to have a perverted character. And the audience gets to see what he's particularly looking at. Haha! Funny that he was easily caught. But hhhmm . . . he's in the cast list. So it's possible that though he's not one of the main characters, he'll still have quite a role in the story.
Despite the beginning of their schooling having familiar scenes, something different arises, which is the appearance of one of the main characters.

[ CHARACTER APPEARANCE: SEIJI ]

I have seen a lot of characters who don't like going to school I'm even such a person. LOLz, but this is the first time that I see a character who bothers to go to school, wearing his uniform, just to tell the teacher that he doesn't want to go to school anymore, saying that it's pointless for him to do so. He was even cruel enough to say that he doesn't have time to spend with them (teacher + classmates). Haha!

I guess from that we can safely assume that there's definitely something big that he's putting his mind into lately (he even mentions that it's something he values A LOT). We're not alone on that, because one of the main characters, Anri, sees there must be something wrong with him as well.

[ CHARACTER APPEARANCE: ANRI ]

I have no idea why she is that concerned about Seiji. I doubt that she has any romantic interest in him (From the OP and ED, Seiji obviously has a girlfriend; and Anri's usually around with the two other main characters) She probably knows about something dangerous, but we just don't know yet; and Seiji himself has no idea what she might be talking about.

She's also not a ghost that appears and disappears out of thin air. She actually lives somewhere, and staying with her is one of the main characters, Shinra. Hopefully we'll see more of him next time.
Anyway, for a character who's not exactly human, she's showing sides that are humane, like having compassion towards others. She saved the girl the second time even if it's no longer part of her job. She's even he one who taught the girl to move on. I find it fascinating that for someone who obviously has big problems (she doesn't have a "head" in the first place), she doesn't give up and doesn't think of the world that badly.

[ CHARACTER FOCUS: IZAYA ]

As I've said, I'm so pleased that my favorite character had a huge role in this episode~

Bias or no bias, he's a very intriguinly spectacular character~ There are so many things to tell about him, even if I put fangurlings aside, that he needed to have his own post. Hahahaa!

With a brilliant auhor and a talented staff and cast, I doubt this series will ever cease to impress me. Of course it won't ever be perfect, but the less troublesome factors, the better. The only main things I honestly didn't appreciate in this episode are the suicidal girl and the narrator. The girl isn't a main character, so I doubt she'll have much of a big role in the next episodes. As for the narrator, I didn't hear her in the previous episode. I really hope it's not the rider's voice . . . because it makes me soooooooooooooo sleepy. *sigh* maybe I'm the only one who feels that way about that voice.

Nevertheless, I highly look forward to the next episode. It looks like most of the fun and action will be starting there. Yay!

Durarara!! - Episode 2 (Izaya Centric)

I have a review for the second episode, but I already have A LOT to tell on my favorite character alone. And no, this won't be just fangurlings, this dude is just that interesting.

Let's start with his name: Izaya Orihara.

Mikado has considered Izaya's name as something weird, like his own. What makes it that way is that Izaya's name is not something usual; in fact, it's not something like a name at all (That, or for a name, it's really rare). There are many theories that makes his name strange, but we don't know the real reason.
But her's one idea: The "Iza" in his name is an expression like "Saa", while "Zaya" isn't a word at all. It's like saying "I-saya", but it results in rather strange combinations of kanji. The kanji of his name isn't commonly used at all, and one of the characters (臨)is rarely used in names.

His name may be strange, but if you look at him, he looks normal:

His hair and clothes aren't anything fancy. He's actually not dashingly attractive either and he's pretty skinny. Though I have to say his grins make him seem malicious . . .

And we could say that he had been malicious in a way because of what he has been doing in this episode. It looks like in the internet, Izaya uses the alias "Nakura". On his profile on the internet, he places in his description:

(Funny that he has a cat icon on his name and his messahe ends with an angel icon)

"Everything's such a pain. I just want to disappear without anyone knowing!"

In the anime, it's just in his profile. But in the manga, from what I know he actually has a website for such a topic.
Either way, the point is, he posted a statement online saying that he wants his life to end. Other people who could relate to his feelings would be interested in interacting with them to share problems . . . and they have this feeling that only those who feel the same way would understand.
By this strategy, he has been luring suicidal people to interact with him. And he had been successful, like our victim in the episode.

(Ah, damn, I want to be on that girl's place in that moment. *melts*)

The girl and Izaya had been exchanging e-mails, each saying about their misfortune.

"I too have some things I can't bring myself to tell others about."

I understand the feeling of not being comfortable to tell people I know of how I feel, but don't mind telling it to people I only get to know through the internet. Most probably the reason why it feels better to do that is because those who don't know about you but is in a similar situation you're in can understand you better.

"I'm in a similar situation as well."

Izaya has been like saying to the girl that he's experiencing problems like hers too. He even has his own story:

"I was dating someone, but she got together with my father instead. But the person I really couldn't forgive was my mother. She told me it's nothing special, and also insisted for me not to make a big deal out of it so we wouldn't look bad. She didn't say a word on how she felt about the situation. And I interpreted that as her considering her reputation to be of higher importance than myself. Or perhaps, she was taking my future into consideration. "

The big question though, is whether that was true or not. But I think he just made it all up. Either that, or he got it from his victim in the past.
Why? First of all, I HIGHLY DOUBT HE EVER DATED ANYBODY IN THE FIRST PLACE! Haha!
Back to his "story", the more similar his "problem" will be with the girl's, the better. And it turned out he had used just that. He used an adultery case, with his dad as well. The girl had expressed anger when she hears about Nakura's thoughts about his "mother"'s reaction towards the problem. He got an intense reaction. . . he fully got his target.

He is aware that his victim wants to disappear from the world. And his main interest is actually to see her try that. What else could be a better way to do it other than to invite her to die together?

"Would you like to disappear with me?"

Of course, to make his invitation more encouraging, he adds something:

"If we were to die together, I think they'd pretty much be forced to realize what they should have really treasured."

His words gave her strength to finally do the act already.

But he wants to make events more interesting. So he informed some criminals about how to get her. He watched them as they do their job. Once she was successfully kidnapped, he calls someone to rescue her, then bring her to him.

About how the girl felt on those events, he had predicted it perfectly:

"You were thinking about dying, but you got kidnapped. And you were a little mad at yourself for being frightened. But if you happened to resist, that would mean that you'd be going against your earlier intentions to die, so you were thinking about accepting it as destiny. But now that you've been saved, you're very much relieved."

Those feelings had confirmed something that he had predicted earlier as well:

"And I knew you didn't want to die either."

I believe most suicidal youths don't really want to die, but they feel too angsty about their situation that they thought disappearing would make a good decision.
In this girl's case, feeling fear when she was kidnapped at once shows that she doesn't want to be exposed to danger that would most likely be followed her death. But her "rational" mind takes over, reminding her that it's what she had in mind in the first place. But when she was rescued, she had been relieved. It shows that since she was so happy to be saved, she didn't want to die at all.

In my opinion, in his own way, Izaya wanted to the girl to realize what she truly feels, and that is, she doesn't really want to die. He even says, though mockingly, that people who are in the same situation as hers can live life normally:

"I feel as though everyone else who has had an affair or found out about one kept living their lives as they laughed at lame jokes and ate food that was a seasoning too sweet."

In other words, even if faced in such a situation, everyone else wouldn't think of a bizarre idea like suicide like she did. You could say that he's calling her stupid for doing so.

Though he may seem to find some human acts/feelings as something foolish, he's fond of them:

"I like humans. Humans are so appealing and interesting. I just can't help myself."

He's saying that as if he's not human himself. Haha! How he expressed that had been a little different in the manga though. He had expressed his love for humans like a madman in the manga, which I like better because it was more entertaining, haha! But in any case, the main point is that he finds humans interesting. To be particular:

"What I'm really interested in is the ecology of your worrying, not your actual worries."

He doesn't care about what humans are concerned about, but how they feel and express it. He loves looking at people's faces when going through such thoughts and emotions:

"I just wanted to see your face which holds all of those thoughts and emotions. Basically, I wanted to see your face when you're at a loss for words after you realized that I saw right through you..........I'm glad... I was able to see your unsightly feelings today."

There's certainly malice in him, for what he enjoys looking at are the negative facial expressions: anger, confusion, shock, fear, helplessness, the like. He loves to see them messed-up:

After pretending in letting her go from that height*"Want me to help you up?"

He scares her of killing her then puts her to safety awards. He's like playing around. And it appears he doesn't think that he's mentally/emotionally hurting someone innocent either. He doesn't believe anyone could be totally good, and he likes to point out her negative thoughts:

"There's not a single person on earth who can live an honest life.......Ever thought about why your parents are so good-for-nothing compared to you? "

He knows that he's not a good person, but he doesn't think she's any different either.

"Do you think of yourself as someone special? That's not true, by the way. We're all the same."

Back to the suicide thing, he sees that nothing really different happens when one commits suicide:

"Look. No matter what worries they had, they're all just bloodstains on concrete now. No matter who they were, everyone went back to their divine creator as equals. "

In the manga, he says he's an atheist though. So I think he doesn't really believe on the "people returning to creator" thing, but just stating what the majority belives about the afterlife.

I find it hard to tell if Izaya actually wants to discourage or encourage suicide among others. From what he had done for the girl, he wanted to show her that death isn't the solution to her problem. But at the same time, he had been taunting her. He had exposed how much she had failed in what she wanted to do and had been bragging on how right he had been on many things.

"Would she be able to hurt him by killing herself now?"

Yeah, it was just to prove him wrong. Just to hurt him. So in the end he had really given her the guts to commit suicide already.

In the manga he clearly said that he doesn't like killing himself. But for others, he doesn't care if they want to kill themselves:

"I'm also not kind enough to stop someone who wants to die."

He doesn't murder people, but he's pretty good in manipulating people into doing so.

It's equally hard to tell if Izaya is a good or bad person. But here's what he says about himself:

"Izaya Orihara, the informant, isn't that bad of a guy. "

So he doesn't deny about being a bad person. Haha! Though he doesn't like the idea of himself being considered totally evil either.

But one thing's for sure: He's smart. He was able to figure out what the girl truly felt from their online interactions, and he had been right on what she would do on the things he had set up. (He even knew when she'll be spanking him, LOLz) But because she had been to predictable and easy for him, he didn't find her exciting:

"You were awfully boring because all your actions were according to my plan. "

I guess I have to agree that things are boring if they turn out to be the way you expected it. It's like watching a show. If it doesn't give you surprises or twists on what will happen next, you won't be that impressed.

But there's been someone that gave him entertainment in the episode:

"It's been fun, you excellent deliverer."

I think he already knew that she does things more that what she's told to do. That's why he even called her not to do such anymore. I think the reason why he liked what she did is because the extra things she does are things he didn't expect:

"I wasn't aware you joined the Justice League (I think he more of said that she has become an ally of justice)"

I don't think he was mad or disappointed that she rescued the girl. She just kept on doing things he hadn't exactl predicted. He obviously find her interesting, and have you guys noticed that he keeps on calling her an "excellent deliverer"? He's like flattering her, hoping that he'll become close to her if he pleases her.

Other things that we could notice in Izaya's character from this episode alone I guess is that though he likes humans and finds some individuals very interesting, he has no plans of becoming personally attached to anyone:

"Oh, and just because I like humans, it doesn't mean that I like you personally. That's important to note."

I highly doubt this guy will ever get a girlfriend. Since he's quite a sadist, maybe a masochist will suit him *remembers the Ladd x Lua couple from Baccano* but a masochist would usually be the type who would do what he expects, so maybe that type of person won't be that appealing to him either . . .hhhmm . . .

It also looks like there are more things that Izaya has been hiding since he says:

"You've got a few secrets too, right? "

Damn, I want more Izaya background!

Anyway, now let's look at the fun sides of Izaya's character:

He works as an informant. He sells information. And of course he needs to gather information to sell something. And the information that he sells doesn't seem to be something totally legal. And since he's been doing illegal stuff, he has to be pretty resourceful and observant. No wonder he makes a good observant, spy, paparazzi . . . and you could say he makes an excellent stalker. Haha!

Strenous jobs are done by his contacts . . . we don't know about his strength or other physical abilities (but I remember seeing him with a knife/dagger), but we can notice that he . . has some strange kinetic movements . . . . I mean . . . he likes to move a lot:

He makes hand gestures as much as Kida does.

He moves that much just to decline something. It appears that he plays around with his jacket too.

And that's how he moves from one spot to another. He was like skipping/hopping like a kid.

He doesn't only do childish walks, but even dangerous ones. Dangerous but he does it like a kid. It's fun to pretend doing a circus act, huh?

And to just go up the stairs by the rooftop, he had done THAT MANY poses already.

HE SERIOUSLY LOVES TO MOVE.

And I also think he's eco friendly:

Leaving cigarettes like that is bad. It has to be stopped from burning. He's either being nice to the environment or he just likes to step on things. I wish it's the latter. It's funnier. Haha!

And let's look at his computer:

Four things:

1) HIS E-MAIL IS: nakura@tomail.com!!!! Fangurls are sooooo gonna spam/troll him now. Hahahahha!
2) He uses Macintosh!!! I want to change my Operating System! LOLz . . .
3) What are those in his folder?! Especially "hands" and . . . "PENELOPE" . . . bwahahahahahha!!!!
4) He has 54 unread messages!!! Hahahaha! Looks like he's talking with so many people already~

Lastly, I can't stop laughing at this scene:

IZAYA! THAT FACE! LOLz!!!!

Izaya has been my favorite character ever since I saw him. I loved him even more when I discovered how twisted he is (and he's even into philosophy/psychology? Sweet~). He even has these childish gestures, and overall he's so awesome and amusing. Not to mention he just had to do hott and sexy poses:

It's his fault that many fans find him so addicting. Hahahahha!

And yes, I'll still be doing a post with my thoughts on the second episode without putting my favorite into focus. He's just too cool that he needs his own post. Haha! I'm not sure if I'll be doing the same for the next episode . . .

But it's possible. Oh he's there again! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~

Notes:
~ Ideas on Izaya's name thanks to Elkin
~ I know her name's Rio. I just don't feel her name's worth mentioning to the post abnout the awesome dude because, as Izaya says, she's boring =P
~ I used gg's translations
~ I'm not all-knowing, so I may have assumed or remembered some things wrong.

Akagami no Shirayukihime - Chapter 17 Omake

I totally didn't imagine it possible for these two to become close one day, but this chapter shows up and prove to me that these two can actually have a moment together. Ryuu's so adorable and Obi's, as usual, love. Haha!

Ryuu couldn't get his papers from a tree. Obi sees him and helps him out. He also brings the boy back to the pharmacy.
Obi becomes interested in the flowers that Shirayuki's in charge of. Ryuu gives him a seed of it in return for helping him out.

That night, Obi hangs out in Zen's room. Zen sees the seed and remembers that they were the ones that Shirayuki has been collecting.
The next day, Obi returns the seed to Ryuu, saying that he can't do anything with it since he knows nothing about flowers. He adds that he won't be staying long anyway.
But Ryuu insisted on Obi to grow it, so that when it blooms, he can look at it whenever he wants when he leaves.

Shirayuki arrives later, worrying that Ryuu might be concentrating on something to much that he won't notice that a storm is approaching. She was relieved to see Obi around.
The next morning, Obi starts asking Shirayuki about the seeds. The he asks her to show him once she has collected them.
The chapter ends with Obi looking at the seed which appeared to be the only color missing in Shirayuki's collection.

It was a short chapter so of course the summary's even shorter. Hehe. But I have more thoughts on it:

[ OBI and RYUU ]

I find their first meeting very cute. I don't know how the hell Ryuu's papers ended up up there, but he was like a little kid who couldn't get his cat down from a tree. Hehe. Ryuu is indeed a homebody. He can't do strenous activities like climbing trees. But I find it so nice that he tried. It shows that he's not the type who gives up easily.
Ryuu is a child prodigy doing an adult's job. Many treat him see him as weird or mature, but a little boy is still a little boy. One of the few characters who treat him a normal kid, despite his position, is Obi (ah well, he does the same to his master anyway. Haha!). I believe Obi acknowledges that Ryuu is of a higher position and is even smarter than him, but he's not a bit intimidated. I think Ryuu just found someone whom he can treat as an older brother~

Ah well, what's a moment with Obi without the funny parts? Haha! The part when he asked if he has to carry Ryuu again because of a storm coming made me giggle~ Oh Obi, you enjoy carrying Ryuu that much? Bwahaha!

[ OBI and SHIRAYUKI ]

Obi and his mistress now have a new interest in common: her flowers. A servant, archer, spy, figher, is interested in flowers. It sounded kinda wrong but at the same time it's very cute~
And no, liking flowers doesn't make a guy gay.

[ OBI and ZEN ]

Of all places he chooses to hang out, he picks Zen's room. Haha! What's funnier is that he doesn't act like a servant in his master's room. He's even relaxing on Zen's couch like they're just roommates.
Of course, Zen will complain. But we know he doesn't really mind much. Haha!

Zen suggests for Obi to go to Mitsuhide's room instead. He's like saying to Obi that if Obi wants to bother someone, he should bother Mitsuhide (I think it's what Zen does if he wants to annoy someone! Bwahahaha! Oh we know that Mitsuhide's still Zen's favorite victim~).
But it seems that Obi only goes to Mitsuhide's room if he has business there. But if he just hangs out for no reason, he'd rather go to Zen's room. In other words, he's closer to Zen and Zen is more fun to bother. Bwahahahhaa!
It seems that if Obi is been thinking of things, the first person he shares it with is his master. Oh~ They're so close~ I knew it Obi! You love both your master and mistress so much (it'd be so wrong if he'll hang out at Shirayuki's place after all. So go play with Zen instead~)

[ THE LOVE OF MY LIFE ]

Ah~ Zen. You really can't stop being so gorgeous huh?
Especially when you're thinking about your girlfriend~ Obi has even noticed how happy you had been by talking about her~
Of course Zen knows Shirayuki's hobbies. Lovery boy is happy with what his love enjoys doing. Hehe.

[ NEXT TIME ]

Zen, Shirayuki, and Obi image! Yay! I look forward to seeing the bigger version of that! And hopefully the upcoming issue this February will come soon (I don't need to hope about it being good because I know it's gonna be good for this series has yet to disappoint me. Ohohohoo~)

[ EXTRA ]
Because of the lack of Mitsuhide and Kiki in this chapter, let's feast our eyes on this:

It's something the author drew to fulfill fan requests. At first glance they look like a couple dancing so lovingly but the expression on their faces say otherwise. Haha! Poor dear Mitsuhide~ Don't worry, you two will be cannon someday. It has to happen! Hahahahha!

Manga Discoveries + Blabberings: Reading Old and New + New ZeroSum Series in Spring 2010!

Yeah, I'll be talking about a lot of manga in this post (of course I didn't check them out in a day! I wish I was that superhuman though), now let me start with my not-really-new discovery:

Georgie! by IGARASHI Yumiko and MANN Izawa

Its anime series was a childhood favorite . . . but I have no memory of its story. I will only recognize the leading girl when I see her and that's it.
I'm becoming nostalgic to my childhood favorites so when I found out that this series actually has a manga adaptation, I checked it out at once!
I don't understand why I got hooked to this as a kid because it's one dramatic soap opera. And the romance is the type that goes "I'll die if you leave me" crap. The three guys that like the girl are literally CRAZY about her. Ah well, that kind of romance must have been the trend during that era.
In fairness, the story's pretty interesting. Georgie I guess is yet one of the few leading ladies that I'm not annoyed with. The one I'm annoyed is with: THE LEADING GUY! Oh gawd that is so rare. EXTREMELY rare for me to feel. But I can't help it. He's a spoiled rich kid who is overly possessive and pathetic. He's also perverted to Georgie, but lucky for him the girl likes him. Guuuuhh . . . the forbidden love her makes me go facepalm because of the irritating leading guy. Fortunately the brothers are pretty decent compare to him, but oh I really want that strangle that leading guy. Ugh.
Okay, overall, it's a nice series. Of course you should consider that it's an old one, so I think the mary sue stuff and some cliches are pretty forgiveable for me. Wow, seems that some of my tastes in shoujo (wait, I'm not sure if it's shoujo anymore because it had a sex scene x_x though not explicitly shown, but still there!) hasn't changed much. Haha!

Alrighty, now for quick thoughts on recently discovered manga:

Arago - London Shikei Tokushu Hanzai Sousakan by ARAI Takahiro

It had an interesting premise but I was pretty surprised that they've resolved their problem with their main enemy in just one chapter. Anyway, I like cop stuff. This had been cool.
But it saddens me that my twin boys aren't twin boys anymore because . . . because . . . *cries*
I was too sad, I don't know if I could continue. It's too painful for a twin boys maniac like me xD Haha! I know the other twin shows up somehow in the next chapter but it's still different from him being . . .waaaaaaaaaah *cries*

En Passant by YUZUNOKI Taro

NEW SHOUNEN FAVORITE especially if it'd go focus on the main storyline already =_= It's so promising. And I like chess stuff~ The leading boy is such a pessimist but slightly different from Zetsubou Sensei's style. Even if he's like that, he's awesome! And I actually like the leading girl! Weirdness rock! Hahaha! I ship them too~ Kyaaa~
Hopefully more characters on the chess thing show up already. I have a feeling that the best that this series can offer would start on the time they show more of the main story/adventure! Oh I'm excited~

Juggle: Ethnicle Romance by ENDOU Okito

I had been interested in this when during the time it just got released because the art is really really PRETTY! I got surprised that it had ecchi though (and yeah, you can see boobs without censor), but it looked like an Arabian tale, and I love that stuff~
So now that it's scanlated, it turned out that our leading guy's a prince and he has a genie who he orders to work without using her powers? Interesting~

Saiyuki: Reload Blast by Minekura Kazuya

I love these four but I really wonder when the hell they're gonna end their journey already x_x Anyway, no matter how episodic their saving-villagers-from-youkais are, they're still so fun and cool! And oh I especially miss Hakkai~
I hope the other characters show up soon (I want Kougaji and Yaone) and more on the main story and I want them to get to West already!

Zenbu Chodai by KURUMATANI Haruko

I've heard about this from namelissis. Since we both enjoyed Faster than a Kiss, I thought another series that she likes so much would be interesting for me as well.
Well, actually, I find this stupid. A type of typical shoujo with a "tough" and "multi-talented" leading girl but the oh-so-perfect leading guy got the better of her but she won't admit that she likes him and he won't admit yet either but he'll be showing signs. Gaaaahhh . . . .
And the girl's name is Sakura Himeko. A lot of my hated leading ladies have either of those names. I think her name's cursed. Anyway, the only thing I find fun about her is her desire to have all men kneel down to her. It reminds me of Hetalia's Prussia/Gilbert so much. Bwahahahhahaha!

Okay, that's it for the recent manga discoveries. Okay, now introducing new series in ZeroSum Magazine in Spring 2010!:

I don't understand the titles unfortunately. And the only mangaka I recognize is naked ape. Anyway, the one I find most interesting is Chronos Deep (the guy with black hair looks so familiar), then the one by Naked Ape (I love anything by that duo), then Planetary (I smell supernatural sci-fi~), and the last one . . . errr . . . it looks like a mushy/stupid BL series. Guh.

Now for comments on random series (scanlated and raw, but of course I didn't fully understand the raw ones): = WARNING: SPOILERS =
+C: Sword and Cornett c.21 - My OTP separated?! T_T NOOOO!!! And Eco and Kiliko meet! Kyaaa!
07-Ghost c.50+ - What is Frau doing?! O_O
Amatsuki latest - I want more Kuchiha now . . .
Bird Cage Manor c.3 & 12 - LOLz trap. I love painter dude. That kiss surprised me though . . . of all people . . .
Bloody Cross c.4 - I LOVE TSUDUKI!!!! His master-servant relationship with Hanabira's so cute as well xD Hahahaha! And whoa, so Satsuki's a fallen angel, huh.
di[e]ce c.33 - I'm lost . . .
Durarara! c.3-4 - Izaya's so crazy and awesome! I really really really LOVE HIM! Yay for twistedly evil people!
Faster than a Kiss c. 23 - Ugh, Fumiko still not satisfied in being considered "family"? She's making me want to strangle her. But damn, her uncle's pretty cool and fun. But Kazuma was love~
Karneval latest - I'm getting lost here too
Kimi ni Todoke c. 43 - Lack of Kazehaya but a lot of his fangurl . . . nah
Natsu no Zenjitsu latest - valentine's day chapter! Oh it was cute~
Sable Prince c.5 - I totally did not expect that pairing! I don't like the princess much but it's an interesting love story~
Tenkyuugi Sephirahnahtus c.8 - Finally! One of the hooded guys reveals himself and he's pretty cute! I'm not happy on that lack of Kisa, but still an interesting development! YAY!
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge c.104 - Oh Kyouhei . . .I know you're jealous~ And LOLz to Sunako being pretty OOC. Hahahaha! It's such a fun chapter, and I love anything Kyouhei x Sunako~

Important note: If you want to read the chapter I'm talking about, just google it because it's the best internet fairy godmother ever. If it fails, then it might be something not around anymore, or something I'm not allowed to redistribute. So don't bother to ask, sorry ^^;