Given Volume 3 - Book Review

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

Given is a Japanese BL manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu.

It has been serialized in the bimonthly manga magazine Cheri+ since 2013 and has been collected into 9 tankobon volumes by Shinshokan.

Volume 3 was published March 1, 2017 in Japan and August 11, 2020 in English.

The series has been adapted multiple times, with an audio drama in 2016, an 11-episode anime series in 2019, an anime film in 2020, and a live-action drama in 2021.

The series follows a group of four students in an amateur rock band and the dual romantic relationships that form among them: between electric guitarist Ritsuka Uenoyama and vocalist Mafuyu Sato, and between bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hot-headed guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music - and to one another - always brings them back together again.

Uenoyama realizes he's in love with Mafuyu and steals a kiss from him backstage at their first live performance. But now he's even more confused - he hasn't shared his feelings with Mafuyu and has no idea how Mafuyu feels about him. In contrast to their naive romance, Haruki has been harbouring a secret desire for bandmate Akihiko, who's already entangled in an intense, conflicted relationship with someone else.

Like with Volume 2, Volume 3 continues to story perfectly. We see more into Uenoyama's feelings for Mafuyu and his dilemma in if Mafuyu returns his feelings at all, to which we do get a confession between them. Also while Mafuyu seems to struggle with his feelings about his past, we can see that a weight has been lifted after being able to to his emotions into words.

We delve a little more into Haruki's one-sided feelings towards Akihiko, as well as how this has swayed the way he looks, for example that Haruki grew out his hair.

We also get to see how Haruki, Akihiko and Uenoyama ended up in a band together, as well as how they come up with their band name after their first performance with Mafuyu.

We also delve more into Akihiko and his relationship with his roommate Ugetsu Murata, we get a more intense look into their relationship.

Akihiko also takes Mafuyu to Ugetsu's concert to introduce him to more classical music, which we also find out that Akihiko hides sides of himself from Haruki, which for me shows that he cares about what he thinks about him. and wants to be seen positively by him.

We see Mafayu starting to get series about music and wanting their band to succeed, we also get to see that he's reconnected with his friends from his childhood.

I always love the little short story panels we get at the end after the main story, they always show a different side and are often comedic and gives more insight into their daily lives.

The more I go back over these volumes the more my love for the series increases, the story, the art, the characters, it's all just perfect and I will always recommend this series to everyone.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Given Volume 2 - Book Review

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

Given is a Japanese BL manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu.

It has been serialized in the bimonthly manga magazine Cheri+ since 2013 and has been collected into 9 tankobon volumes by Shinshokan.

Volume 2 was published January 30, 2016 in Japan and May 12, 2020 in English.

The series has been adapted multiple times, with an audio drama in 2016, an 11-episode anime series in 2019, an anime film in 2020, and a live-action drama in 2021.

The series follows a group of four students in an amateur rock band and the dual romantic relationships that form among them: between electric guitarist Ritsuka Uenoyama and vocalist Mafuyu Sato, and between bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hot-headed guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music - and to one another - always brings them back together again.

As the band races toward their first live concert, Mafuyu struggles to write lyrics for their new song but can't find the words to express the emotions burning within him. Meanwhile, Uenoyama hears rumours about Mafutu's past and is bewildered by his won feelings. The tension builds until the night of the show, when the band explodes into a raging, life-changing performance.

Volume 2 is the perfect continuation of the story, we get to see a lot more of Mafuyu's past and his relationship with his childhood friends Hiragi Kashima and Yuki Yoshida. We see how Mafayu and Yuki's relationship developed in more and how they needed one another. But even though Mafuyu was in love with Yuki, he still felt lonely. We learn why he feels so much guilt about having Yuki's guitar as well as how Yuki's death came about and why.

We get to see how Ueunoyama's feelings start developing more and how he begins to come to terms with how he feels for Mafuyu, even asking advice from fellow bandmate Akihiko.

We get to meet Ugetsu Murata, who is Akihiko's roommate, but when we meet him it's indicated that there is more between them than just normal roommates.

There's nothing in the way of things developing with Hikaru and Akihiko, only that they try to push both Mafuyu and Uenoyama in the right direction for their first ever show. Akihiko seems to take Mafuyu under his wing, which to me shows that he's had the same struggles as Mafuyu in that he's sometimes found it hard to put words to his emotions and has overcome them to some extent.

I love how Natsuki Kizu drew their performance, even while reading you can feel Mafuyu's emotion's, his guilt, his heartache and his loneliness as well as everyone finally beginning to understand and accept him. The addition of flashback throughout this section helps the reader to feel those emotions too. We also get to see Mafuyu accept that he's able to move on without forgetting his first love.

I love that we get a little bonus story after the main plot of volume 2 that follows Mafuyu and Yuki to the beach, and it connects perfectly to the main story.

To repeat what I said when I posted a bout Volume 1. I will always recommend this series as I love the characters and the story, it touches on a lot of topics that people often try to push to one side, like mental health, suicide and sexuality, especially when it comes to school age.

It's one of my favourite series' in the BL genre as well as overall, it's definitely one of my favourites to read all over again.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Love is an Illusion Volume 1 - Book Review

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

Love is an Illusion! is a South Korean BL manhwa written and illustrated by Fargo.

The series was serialised and published online by Lenzhin Comics and started serialisation on the 29th of January 2021.

The series has 99 chapters.

The series has begin to be physically releases in English by Seven Seas, with Volume 1 being published the 27th of September 2022.

This series is set in a universe called an Omegaverse, where secondary genders exist, which are Alpha, Omega and Beta's.

In the Omegaverse, Alpha's are the leaders of the pact, they respond to the pheromones released by Omega's and can impregnate Omega's whether male or female.

As stated above Omega's can be impregnated by Alpha's regardless of their base gender.

Both Alpha's and Omega's release pheromones, with an Alpha's being able to take control over an Omega.

Beta's are regular humans and don't release or respond to pheromones, they're also unable to smell pheromones.

Pheromones are a unique scent emitted by both Alpha's and Omega's.

Omega's have heat cycles, which is over a period of a few days where they secrete pheromones stronger than usual to seduce an Alpha. Omega's often take medication to control this.

Alpha's have a similar cycle, which is called a rut.

An Omega with Alpha-tude.

Hye-sung spent his entire life believing he was an Alpha, the jackpot of the genetic lottery. His world is flipped upside down when he learns that he's not a dominating Alpha, but a submissive Omega instead!

His frustration redlines whenever he crosses paths with the handsome Dojin, a true Alpha. Supposedly, Dojin can't stand Omega's, but sparks fly when he butts heads with Hye-sung, and their explosive arguments set off an unexpected spicy relationship.

Is their sizzling chemistry truly just pheromones?

Volume 1 is a nice introduction to the main character Hyesung and male lead Dojin, as well as meeting some of the side characters Kyungsoo and Heesoo that are friends with the main character and male lead.

We learn pretty early on that from a young age that Hyesung has believed he was an Alpha when tests told him so, as a young adult he finds out he's in fact an Omega when he goes into heat and other Alpha's try to make a move. Dojin on the other hand is a Dominant Alpha, which is the big boss of Alpha's and he has a big dislike of Omegas. He has a dislike of Omega's and only ever hooks up with other Alpha's, until he bumps into Hyesung in heat and gives him a helping hand. While they despise each other Hyesung finds himself living with Dojin after his beta friends roommate attempts to force himself on Hyesung, and Dojin takes him in to help. Here is where an unconventional relationship begins and Dojin has no issues sleeping with Hyesung leading him to believe he can sleep with other Omega's. Volume ends on a bit of a cliff hanger if you're new to the story, I won't spoil it but it's safe to say I knew what was coming.

This is a typical haters to lovers BL and I won't deny that both characters seem to force themselves on one another. I absolutely love the characters and the story, I definitely recommend this if you're a BL fan as well as an Omegaverse fan.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Given Volume 1 - Book Review

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

Given is a Japanese BL manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Kizu.

It has been serialized in the bimonthly manga magazine Cheri+ since 2013 and has been collected into 9 tankobon volumes by Shinshokan.

Volume 1 was published November 29th 2014 in Japan and February 11th in English.

The series has been adapted multiple times, with an audio drama in 2016, an 11-episode anime series in 2019, an anime film in 2020, and a live-action drama in 2021.

The series follows a group of four students in an amateur rock band and the dual romantic relationships that form among them: between electric guitarist Ritsuka Uenoyama and vocalist Mafuyu Sato, and between bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hot-headed guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music - and to one another - always brings them back together again.

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all - with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favourite napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behaviour, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.

I'm a massive fan of Given and I make it no secret that I love this series. I have read the whole original manga series, as well as watched the anime, I have started the live-action and will eventually get through it but sometimes I struggle with live-action adaptations if they differ from the original look.

 Volume 1 really gives us a good introduction to the series, I'm not surprised why everyone eventually falls for Mafuyu because he's just too adorable. You know straight from the get go that he's shy and reserved and seems to have some dark history, which we see peek it's head when he bumps into some old friends. As we get further into the volume we find out more of what happened to him as well as what traumatised him in his past.

From the get go in volume 1, Uenoyama seems very sure of himself, he confident and skilled in everything he does, especially when it's to do with music. The more he's around Mafuyu the more he starts to question his own feelings, especially when he's told rumours of Mafuyu's past, as well as from what Mafuyu himself tells him.

We pretty much know from that start that Hikaru harbours one-sided feelings towards Akihiko, just from the way he blushes and reacts around him. You also know from the get go that he's really friendly and is open to meeting new people, he seems to take to Mafuyu straight away and helps him.

In volume 1 we meet Akihiko, but we don't really get to know much about him other than he's a bit of a playboy.

I love that we also get some info about the 4 main characters and members of Given as well as sketches of them with a little more info.

We also get short side stories about the characters.

I will always recommend this series as I love the characters and the story, it touches on a lot of topics that people often try to push to one side, like mental health, suicide and sexuality, especially when it comes to school age.

It's one of my favourite series' in the BL genre as well as overall, it's definitely one of my favourites to read all over again.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Alice in Borderland: Volume 1 - Book Review

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

Alice in Borderland is a Japanese suspense manga series, written and illustrated by Haro Aso and published by Shogakukan.

The original releases of the series was published between November 25th 2010 and March 2nd 2016.

The series was made into 18 volumes.

Alice in Borderland was adapted into a 3-episode Original Video Animation, which was released between October 2014 and February 2015.

The series also has a spin-off manga series titled Alice in Border Road, and a sequel titled Alice in Borderland: Retry.

The series also has a live-action adaptation produced by Netflix, with the first season premiering worldwide in December 2020, with a 2nd season in December 2022.

On the 9th of July 2021, Viz Media announced that they had licensed the series for English publication.

As of March 2016, Alice in Borderland had over 1.3 million copies in circulation.

The series follows Arisu and his friends as they fight to survive and find answers and a way home, out of Borderlands deadly games.

Eighteen-year-old Ryohei Arisu is sick of life.

School sucks, his love life is a joke, and his future feels like impending doom. As he struggles to exist in a world that can't be bothered with him, Ryohei feels like everything would be better if he were anywhere else. When a strange fireworks show transports him and his friends to a parallel world, Ryohei thinks all his wishes have come true. But this new world isn't an empty paradise, it's a vicious game. And the only way to survive is to play.

The first game starts with a bang, but Ryohei manages to beat the clock and save his friends. It's a short-lived victory, however, as they discover that winning only earns them a few days' grace period. If they want to get home, they're going to have to start playing a lot harder.

I make no secret of being a fan of the AIB Netflix series, and it's because of that, that I decided to start reading the manga and see how it differs from the live-action.

The first volume covers the first 2 episodes with some differences, for example the game in which Arisu and the gang meets Shibuki, as well as Chishiya meeting Karube rather than meeting and helping Arisu.

The main difference between the live-action and the manga is their ages, while Karube works in a bar, both Arisu and Chota are still in high school, I found it really funny with how different Chota is, he literally makes a puddle to see up the girls skirts and it actually made me laugh to find out he's actually a pervert.

So far there isn't much in the way of character development as it's only the first volume and I think it takes a few volumes to allow you to get to know the characters.

I look forward to reading more of the volumes and seeing how it differs from the live-action, and seeing each characters growth in a more detailed aspect.

I've actually been struggling to get my hands on the volumes as they seem to be out of stock in a lot of places, which I think shows how popular the live-action has become for viewers wanting to actually read the original content of the show.

It's been such a long time since I've posted about a manga, so it's nice to be able to post and share something I've started reading again.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Manga Madness: Love Stage!!

Hello

Annyeoung

Konnichiwa

Ni Hao

It's time for me to share with you another manga that I've been reading.

Love Stage is a Yaoi manga written by Eiki Eiki and illustrated by Taishi Zao. It began it's serialisation in the July 2010 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Asuka Ciel magazine. The series has been licensed in North America by SuBLime as well as also being published in Germany by Tokyopop, Love Stage also has a spin-off light novel series titled Back Stage!! which began in May 2011. In 2014 the series got a 10-episode anime series which aired between July and September. So far there are 5 volumes of the series released in English with volume 6 due to be released on December 13th this year(2016).

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The series follows main characters Izumi Sena and Ryoma Ichijo, with regular appearances from Izumi's manager Rei Sagara and Izumi's brother Shogo Sena.

As a child Izumi was forced to dress up as a girl as a stand in for a commercial when he was 8 years old, things went wrong during the filming causing Izumi to now have stage fright and not want to step foot into the entertainment world again. Izumi filmed the commercial with a 10 year old Ryoma Ichijo. On the 10 year anniversary of the commercial the company decides to film an anniversary commercial showing the original children all grown up and getting married, Ryoma now 20 and a popular actor says he will only do the commercial if the original girl takes part also meaning he will get to meet her again. During the wrap up of the commercial Ryoma confesses to Izumi saying that he's waited 10 years to be able to meet 'her' again as he's been in love with 'her' all these years and couldn't forget her.

Shogo appears and reveals to Ryoma that the girl Izumi that he's been in love with is in fact a boy and his younger brother, causing Ryoma to lash out saying he never wants to be involved with them ever again.

As Izumi gets back into his regular routine Rei continues to try and convince him to get into the entertainment industry as all his family are in it, with his father being a famous director, his mother a famous actress and his older brother Shogo being the lead vocalist in a popular rock band, but because of his stage fright Izumi has his sights set on being a mangaka, something he doesn't really have the talent for.

Ryoma finds it difficult to forget his feelings for Izumi and contacts him in the hopes of starting a friendship between the two of them and in the hopes that one day Izumi will return his feelings.

Over the course of the series with the help of Rei, Shogo and Ryoma; Izumi begins to overcome his stage fright and steps into the limelight of the entertainment industry, and eventually begins to have feelings for Ryoma and rushing to tell him he's in love with him, a relationship starts. While working on a film together they fall out and Ryoma loses all his memories of Izumi and him together, will Izumi be able to help Ryoma recover his memories or will Ryoma move on leaving Izumi behind?

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I've made it no secret that I'm a fan of Yaoi manga and anime, I wasn't aware that Love Stage had been made into an anime till I read all the available chapters on my manga app and then noticed that I'd placed the anime on to my to watch list on Crunchyroll. I can't wait for the next update and I have also started buying the volumes to this series so that I can re-read without using up the battery up on my phone. You can always tell in yaoi which character will be the bottom and who will be the top and Love Stage is no different, I love that they make a joke of that in one of the chapters when Izumi threatens to top Ryoma and his think bubble states he's glad he researched on what to do. Shogo is definitely there for comedy value with how he seems to have a spidey sense when it comes to Izumi and always seems to appear at the wrong time. What I love about this series is that Ryoma falls in love with Izumi thinking he's a girl but he's feelings don't change when he finds out he's a guy, I think it's a way to point out to anyone that reads it that love is love no matter the persons gender. I think I've mentioned in a previous post how I find it odd that yaoi and yuri(lesbian) is pretty popular in manga and anime but in the real world most Asian countries are against it seeing it as a mental problem, to me the main moral of this series is gender does not matter, they both love one another a fight for one another. Even if you're not a fan of yaoi I would recommend giving this series a try it's funny and calls out to any romance fans. Strangely I'm not a chick flick fan as to me they are always the same but give me any manga that has a romance story and I'll give it a try. I've not really sold this series but what do you have to lose by giving it a try, yaoi is a love or hate genre I think and the only way to find out if they're for you is by giving some series' a try and for me Love Stage is at the top of my list of recommendations.

I'm always on the hunt for new yaoi manga to give a try so if you have any recommendations then let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

Annyeoung
Sayonara
Zai Jian
Bye

Manga Madness: He's My Only Vampire!

Hello

Annyeoung

Konnichiwa

Ni hao

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It's Thursday so that means it's time for Manga Madness and this week it's a manga I'd been constantly looking at when I was in my local bookstore but could never decide whether to buy it or not.

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It's English title is He's My Only Vampire but it's Japanese name is Junketsu+Kareshi, on the manga rock app it's called Pureblood+Boyfriend which I'm guessing is the translation of the Japanese name.
It's a Japanese Shojo fantasy romance vampire manga series and it's both written and illustrated by Aya Shouoto and published by Kodansha in Aria Magazine. The series has been licensed in English by Yen Press and also in French by Kurokawa.
The series ran from 2010 till 2014 and contains 10 volumes in the series and is a completed series.

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The series follows tomboy school girl Kana Takachiho, who used to play sports at school till she was injured in a freak accident meaning she had to give them up, all the other school clubs now go to her for help when needed. Growing up she had 2 childhood friends named Aki and Eriya who were brothers and due to a fire when they were all children that Kana caused and thinking she her friends had died in that fire caused Kana to have a fear of fire.
One day on returning home from school Kana saves a little girl in the middle of the road from being hit by a truck but she instead is hit, while she lays dying her childhood friend Aki returns and saves her life. Aki is no ordinary friend he is a vampire and just not any type of vampire; he's a pureblood, and by saving Kana's life he's in fact made her immortal and she is now his slave, meaning her main role to Aki is that she belongs solely to him to feed on.
Aki reveals to Kana that his brother Eriya is sleeping and that he has joined a game to gather the 7 stigma, which are marks of power that represent the 7 deadly sins to awaken him, he already has the stigma of pride when he saves Kana.
Kana is surprised when it is revealed that Aki has a fiancee called Tsubaki'in Eve, Aki seems uncomfortable with Kana knowing this as he seems to have feelings for her, but holds them back as he thinks Kana has feelings for his brother Eriya as when they were children Eriya asked Kana to become his.
Along the way Kana becomes friends with fellow classmate Shiranui Jin who is a werewolf,
Aki tries to kill as he possess the stigma for greed, Kana persuades him not to leading to both he and Kana to help Aki in his game.
Will Aki reveal his true feelings for Kana, will Eriya be woken from his slumber, I guess you'll have to read the series to find out.

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As I said at the start of this post, I kept looking at this manga for a long time not being able to decide whether I wanted to buy and read it or not, it wasn't till I looked at the manga again that I realised that I'd been reading it on my manga rock app but under the name Pureblood+Boyfriend. This is actually the only 2nd vampire manga series I have read, the other being Vampire Knight. Sadly it's not been updated on my manga app for a while so I'm going to start buying all the volumes so I'm able to finish the series, I've also ordered some new manga today that's written but the same mangaka as this one so I have high hopes for this next one I'll read. I'm really enjoying He's My Only Vampire so far, I seriously ship Kana and Aki together and it's very RARE in a series that the couple I ship together gets together, I was seriously happy when I read that SPOILER ALERT Ichigo and Orihime ended up together with a son at the end of Bleach. Personally for me there's nothing I can fault with this series, I love the characters and I love the plot. For me a series is good when it's 1am and I'm still up reading a series which is how I was with this one, I had to keep going onto the next chapter which I was gutted when I got up to the latest chapter on my app. I can't wait to see how this series ends.

Have you read He's My Only Vampire?
Let me know in the comments below.
But please no spoilers ha ha.

See you soon!

Annyeoung
Sayonara
Zai Jian
Bye