Fruits Basket Final Volume (a bit of a spoiler but read it anyways :D )

Comics have heroes. They have them defeat evil, demented monsters or villans with super strength. They even, sometimes, have a deep, thoughtful plot and theme.

Recently, I've been rereading a lot of manga series, including Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. (Well, I've been rereading the few volumes I actually OWN of the series). I love this series - romantic comedy is my treasure :)

Fruits Basket is very sad sometimes. The main character, Tohru, her mother died. In this last volume, it shows Kyoko (her mother) of what she was thinking when she was dying. I want to incorporate it into one of my poems. "I understand now. Leaving people behind, being left behind. They're both... so hard..." And she starts going on about how much she loved Tohru and if she loved her enough. It's really touching and sad. This is one of those things you would wish to be real, to really have happened. It's like in The Office, you (well, at least I do) wish that Pam and Jim were a real couple :)

I remember when I finished the series, the last sentence was so touching, I cried. I'd never cried about a book before, but it was so beautiful and I was so sad that the series had ended - I was overwhelmed. "Repeat the good... and the bad. Do it all... and pile on the years." I also want to put this into one of my poems. My topic is Icy love. I think. Or Icy life. something so it sticks out - something good and bad. This is where I can say the quote again :D

Repeat the good... and the bad. Do it all... and pile on the years.

Honey Hunt ~ :D

Recently, I have been reading a series called Honey Hunt. Over the winter break, I read five entire volumes... I must get the sixth one...
Anyway, in Honey Hunt by Miki Aihara, the main character, Yura Onozuka, is the daughter of two famous celebrities. Her mother is Yukari Shiraki, a famous actress voted "Best Mom" for a magazine. She's not. Her father, Takayuki Onozuka, is a famous musician.

This story has many problems, which I can not discuss right now because it would give away the book and because Ms. Rear will tell me to re-do this if I summarize it.

When I was reading the series, I started thinking, "I wonder if this hard life for Yura is how it is for many children of real celebrities." It made me think of Madonna's daughter, Lourdes. I didn't know who she was, until someone said "Madonna's daughter". It's like that for Yura too, she's not known much and is referred to as "the daughter of Yukari Shiraki".

Also, I sometimes wonder if Lourdes has any talent, or if she just goes to LaGuardia because she's Madonna's daughter and LaGuardia can use that to boast. I feel bad for people who aren't known for themselves but only through other people.

I am currently reading The Twelve Kingdoms : Skies of Dawn by Fuyumi Ono. This is the fourth and last book of the Twelve Kingdoms series. This book draws you in with three main characters. Yoko, the star of the first book, returns. She is now the King of Kei (yes, all leaders are "kings", even if they're female...).

In the book, two new main characters are introduced, Shoukei and Suzu.

Shoukei is the former princess of Kei, and her parents were murdered by Kei's governer. She hates Yoko because she is now living the life she should have had.

Suzu, on the other hand, adores Yoko.They've never met, but they are both kaikyaku, people who magically and unintentionally cross the Void Sea from Japan to the Twelve Kingdoms. She believes that, since they've both been through the hatred of civilians, Yoko will pity her and punish Riyou for causing her emotional harm.

I think that once Suzu actually meets Yoko, she will be upset because Yoko may not be the kind of person she expected her to be. Then, for Shoukei, she will meet Yoko and she will realize she was wrong about her.

In Emil and Karl, so many horrible things are happening in the text.
Karl's mother is taken away from him by the Nazi regime and his father died long before because he fought for rights; he was a Socialist.

Emil's mother is also taken away because she is very ill. His father was killed by the Nazi regime and sent to Emil and his mother, cremated.

It's easy to see there is no justice in Emil and Karl. It's like a little kid version of showing racism and the Holocaust. It's not really for little kids though, you wouldn't read this to elementary school kids.
It's especially amazing that this book was written DURING the Holocaust, not after.

Also, I think that in this text, Emil and Karl's point of views are missing. Karl just doesn't understand WHY Hitler wants to get rid of Jews and others if they're not Aryan. I'm not sure he and Emil actually understand WHY though. It's just that they're parents told they Hitler was bad. Emil is sort of like the person who doesn't know what to do. He might WANT to be different because he's hated so much. He might think "Why did I have to be like this? Why couldn't I be RIGHT and not HORRIBLE as they say I am?"

This book is very serious and that it needs to be read with an open mind.

Religion is useless. Countries all over the world are prejudice against other religions. It is also the same with government ideas on economy and gay rights. In Persepolis, these two issues come up.

In Persepolis, at the beginning of the book, a fundamentalist man was saying that bilingual schools had to be closed down because "they are symbols of capitalism". But later in the book, it speaks of how Marji's grandfather became a communist and he was tortured.
Since capitalism is religious compared to communism and Iran was religious, I think that's probably why they prosecuted communists. Even though people have different views, it's not that bad.

Marji's family's friends were whipped because they were homosexuals. Even though the government can't do that here, lots of people still use hate crimes towards gays, like in the short story Am I Blue?

People shouldn't hate on people just because of differences. Imagine if everyone had blond hair, blue eyes, were all obese and everyone's name Frank. There would be no differences between anyone and nobody would no anybody. It's also like this with school uniforms, I think, to make it be as if everyone's equal.

Princess Academy

"What really hard things are happening in the text?"

Well, at the Princess Academy, the girls under 18 from Mount Eskel compete to be the Academy Princess, and to take a shot at winning the Prince of Danland's heart. I could say that the Princess Academy is a nice place where the girls get along and help each other during recess, and that their tutor is a kind, moon-faced woman who gives out gumdrops on test days. Yet I can't. It's not true. In fact, I could say it's quite the opposite.

The Princess Academy's tutor, Tutor Olana, locks children in a closet with rats. The top students, Miri (the main character) and Katar are in major competition. Well, at least, so Katar thinks. Miri doesn't seem to be snooty and stuck up, like Katar thinks she is. Honestly, Katar is the one who is snooty and stuck up.

So far, the whole book is an issue. The lowlanders and mountaineers hate each other (lowlander traders cheat the mountaineers of their earnings) and the lowlanders are dumbfounded that the new princess will be from Mount Eskel, since it's only a territory.

In short, this tale of kingdoms, princesses and princes is not a happyfairy tale.

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The Shapeshifter - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Edmund is the Shapeshifter. Edmund is the shapeshifter because he does what will (or he THINKS will) be good for him. He is a greedy little pig who dislikes his so-called bossy siblings and will do anything for himself. In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Edmund helps to lead the White Witch to his siblings so he can have Turkish Delight. He did not know that the White Witch (or, as he met her, the Queen of Narnia) was going to dispose of him, but he decided to bring his siblings to her because she promised he could be a prince. Although later his little sister told him she was evil, Edmund didn't take notice and went along to help the witch.

Although he didn't know that the White Witch was going to kill him and his siblings, I can't understand how Edmund could be so STUPID. He found out that she was evil, but he didn't care because all he wanted was to become Prince of Narnia and eat more Turkish Delight. Perhaps he also decided not to listen to Lucy because the Witch said lots of Narnians hate her and say bad things about her, but I don't think that's true. I think Edmund is a spoiled brat who will do anything to get anything he wants.

Even though he returns to the "side" with his siblings and Aslan, I still really despise Edmund and I think I always will.