A Review on KURO: Eternal Night Chronicles, Book One – A Vanished Goddess

art by Nuri-kun

Personally speaking, I have always considered the light novel as a genre of its own. It is not merely the amalgam of fantasy and sci-fi, coupled with romance at times, that stock the Young Adult shelves of today. Granted, I read them not in their intended form, which is that of Japanese text, but it is with the essence of the novel that makes for me the biggest difference. I attribute it to the specific literary nature of the Japanese – a style that is their own; completely common-place to them yet, to the eyes of an outside reader, a relatively new and unfamiliar sight.

An unfamiliar sight indeed, being shared by what I would assume as, a relatively small niche of fans of Japanese media in general. It may even be pigeon-holed as being only for fans of Japanese media in general. Anime and manga fans are a more casual bunch in that regard I should say. To watch a story unfold in anime, as supposed to reading one in a novel is in theory something that most would consider more fun to actually do after all.

Is it really that hard to transcribe that experience, that of anime and manga, into a book?

Author Miko Limjoco wishes to do just that.
With his own spin on writing light novels, he welcomes readers into the land in darkness; Kuro.

A Review on True Tears

Thanks to feal87‘s occasional recommendation (and being a fellow romance fan myself) it was only a matter of time until I finally got around to watching this series. I’ve heard many a tale of its near realistic plot feats, but I took it with a grain of salt – seeing as it also sports the oh-so-dreaded, forbidden, and angst-bound ratio of 3:2. Plus, it made rooting for the eventual “losing” girl to be all the more heart-wrenching.

Suffice to say, I still made that mistake – to the credit of the twisty-turny roller coaster ride of a love story that is True Tears.

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A Review on Bamboo Blade

If I were to name one show that I’ve stalled for the longest time, it would be this one. I don’t even remember when I heard about it, and whenever I got around clearing my backlogs, this title would just pass me by. I had my reasons: like how I wasn’t used to an all-girl cast, or how this show is sport-themed. But deep down I knew “I really want to watch this”. After finally subjecting to my innermost desires I gave in and gave this series another audience.

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A Review on Fullmetal Alchemist – The Sacred Star of Milos

The long awaited FMA movie finally reaches the digital shores of non-Japanese anime viewers like me who didn’t get to watch it’s North American premier. With FMA arguably being one of the best anime of all time with it’s impressive story direction, it’s reasonable to expect the movie to be just as good. But expectations can only go so far. FMA is no exception.

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A Review on The Tatami Galaxy

There are as many possibilities as there are choices. Try to look back at a decision you made in the past – what you ate for lunch at a certain day, a relationship with someone, or even the clubs you decided to join. What if you ate at a fastfood restaurant instead of eating the packed lunch your mom made? What if you didn’t confess to the girl you like? What if you joined a sporting club instead of the school publication? How different would your life be then?

Yes, very much like branching paths in a visual novel, a different outcome could have occurred had we chosen a different option. This “What if..” scenario is the key element in The Tatami Galaxy.

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A Review on Mushi-shi

Every once in a while, I go through the vast realms of the internet and I try to look for some anime. I’m pretty picky, and I tend to stray away from mainstream titles. There is however, one title that I had repeatedly encountered, but never dared to watch. It is praised rather highly, but after taking a peek at a synopsis of it, I didn’t understand the hype behind it, so I just put in on my ‘plan to watch’ list for a while.

It was not until a few weeks ago that I decided to watch this, and, well, looking back at it now, I wish that I would have done so sooner. Here is, Mushi-shi.

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A Review on Moshidora

This is gonna be my first attempt at writing a full review of a series, so please bear with any errors I may make, and share your opinions as well.

With that out of the way, I will be reviewing a series that I had watched a few months ago. A rather short series, that makes up for it by being original and solid all through out. As with almost all reviews, this post will have spoilers. If you haven’t watched Moshidora yet, I suggest not reading this post until you do.

So, let’s see how two childhood friends, a crash course in Management and a high school baseball team managed to pull off a nice run. Here is, Moshidora.

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