Crunchyroll MANGA

Last week, I heard about Crunchyroll deciding to add manga to their website. How? Well Crunchyroll has partnered with Kodansha! I was soooooo excited but I really kinda... forgot (oops...) with all the Halloween festivities happening, but thanks to Twitter - I found out that it opened today!

It's not much there, but I'm sure that in the coming future they will add much, much more to their archive. Who am I kidding, though? They have enough there for you! Titles include: Attack on Titan, Space Brother's, FairyTail, Mysterious Girlfriend X, Fort of Apocalypse, and more. Some of these are from currently airing anime's or anime's that just ended a season like Attack on Titan, so you can get your fix until the next season airs!

For Free Users - only the newest chapters will be available; ads will be there.
Premium Users - Recent Chapters, ad free, Back Catalog for each manga - Chapter 1 to the most recent chapter.

The best part - WE WILL BE GETTING THESE CHAPTERS THE SAME DAY AS JAPAN!

If you're like me... this is great. You get manga the same day as Japan, you get to support the company's, and you get quality translations.

I can't stress enough how a shitty translation by fans can sometimes completely ruin my experience, because I have to go on another site and try to find a better version & by then, I'm slightly annoyed. (I mean, you get used to it, but you know...)

The only downfall I see of this is, many manga sites run by fan translators may get shut down because... that's basically pirating. Most sites are going by the "Fair Use Clause". I hope it doesn't happen anywhere in the near future because Crunchyroll only has 12 titles up. I only really read 3 of these titles so... yea.

Here are the titles if you are interested!

“Attack on Titan” by Hajime Isayama

A dramatic action-adventure where humans must battle mysterious giants for survival. Currently one of Japan’s most popular manga, it has recently inspired a hit anime streaming on Crunchyroll now.

“Fairy Tail” by Hiro Mashima

A guild of wizards-for-hire use their skills in an age of magic and wonder.This ongoing manga series, created by Hiro Mashima, has also been adapted into a popular anime series.

“Space Brothers” by Chuya Koyama

Award-winning manga about two siblings struggling to fulfill their childhood dreams to become astronauts. Inspired an anime series now streaming on Crunchyroll as well as a live-action movie.

“UQ Holder!” by Ken Akamatsu

From the creator of “Negima!” comes this fantasy set in a future where the existence of magic has transformed the world and a boy named Tota must leave his home village on the path of adventure.

“Mysterious Girlfriend X” by Riichi Ueshiba

A tale of addiction and lovesickness revolving around a strange bond between classmates Urabe and Tsubaki. Also inspired a popular anime series.

“A Town Where You Live” by Kouji Seo

School, relationships, and comedy are combined in this manga about a girl who moves from the city to the countryside.

“Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches” by Miki Yoshikawa

Two students – a boy and a girl – unexpectedly swap bodies and must uncover the secrets of the “Seven Witches” at their school, who each possess a different power. Recently adapted into a TV drama.

“As the Gods Will - The Second Series” by Muneyuki Kaneshiro (story) & Akeji Fujimura (art)

What seems like just another boring day at school becomes a deadly and surreal game, and student Shun Takahata must find out who is behind it.

“My Wife is Wagatsuma-san” by Yuu Kuraishi (story) & Keishi Nishikida (art)

One day, a girlfriend-less student wakes up 10 years in the future to discover he is married to the prettiest girl in school. How did it happen and where is their relationship going?

“Fort of Apocalypse” by Yuu Kuraishi (story) and Kazu Inabe (art)

Accused of a crime he did not commit, a young boy is sentenced to life in prison only to find himself at the center of an outbreak of zombies!

“COPPELION” by Tomonori Inoue

20 years after a nuclear meltdown devastates Tokyo, three girls who were genetically engineered to be immune to radiation are sent into the mysterious disaster area to search for survivors.

“The Seven Deadly Sins” by Nakaba Suzuki

In this comedic fantasy adventure, a princess goes on a quest to reassemble a disbanded group of knights when her kingdom is taken over by the evil Holy Knights.

Thanks For Reading!

Beyond The Boundary | First Impressions

So, the Fall 2013 anime season has begun and the first show of the season I've started watching is Beyond the Boundary; which just aired on Oct. 2, 2013. WARNING: There may be light SPOILERS.

I have watched 3 episodes of this anime (the fourth episode was released today) and to be honest... I had to rewatch it because I was sooooo confused. Maybe I'm just dumb, but it really felt like they rushed into the story and kinda just threw information at me that I had to piece together on my own.

Guess what? Anime adaptation of a manga that only has 3 volumes (light novel) and... the show is getting 13 episodes. Go figure. THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING. >_<

Episode One

Akihiito, a high school sophomore, is doing his normal routine one day when he suddenly stunned by the sight of a young girl who appears to be on the verge of suicide via jumping from the roof of the school. He says he normally wouldn't do this kind of thing; but he runs upp there and attempts at talking her down - where we learn about his glasses fetish. He says, "Anyone who looks as good in glasses as you do SHOULD NOT DIE!"

He saved her... but uhm, she doesn't seem to want much of his help. She stabs him with her blood sword!

Being Half Youmu/Human makes Akihito immortal!

This show is masked like a typical high school drama.
Throughout this episode we are thrown hints that these seemingly normal, human students have some form of a supernatural second life. Their world is far from normal.
Soon after Akihito saves Mirai, shit starts to pop off. Mirai explains to him that she is a Spirit World Warrior (which there are many of in this world) but she is the last surviving member of her clan - People with a curse that allows them to manipulate their blood [which she uses as a sword]. 

Spirit World Warriors kill Youmu to protect people but also to make a living. The Youmu souls are captured in stone that they get appraised and turn in for cash. (Mirai needs it, she's pretty... poor.)

I'm usually not really drawn to Supernatural/Fantasy anime's but the art style of this show really caught my eye. It's visually beautiful; especially the opening and ending credits. The action scenes are so much fun to watch  because the camera angles give you a good sense of scale and the moves are dynamic.

This episode was filled with alot of cheerfulness, cute moments and action that give hints to a darker and more serious plot.

Tell me I'm not the only one who thought Mirai looked like Yui?

Pros & Cons All Jumbled Up

• Beautiful art and animation style.
• Amazing OST
• Interesting character personalities | Mirai is very introverted and timid. She expresses fear during fights but is an excellent swordsman. Akihito is very laid back and kind hearted but his obsessesion with Girls in Glasses is absolutely comical; when I say obsession... I mean fetish.
• Akihito is lightly cliche... actually a few of the characters other than Mirai have very predictable personalities.
• Fast paced
• Mirai's ability kinda reminds me of Deadman Wonderland's, Ganta.
• Some humor & moe
• Comfortable balance between lightheartedness and seriousness
• Slightly confusing when you factor in the fact that Youmu, Humans, and Spirit World Warriors all live together. Youmu are classified by their alliance or aggression against others. Some look like monsters (more aggressive)  and others look like humans (alliance).

Overall, I plan on watching this because the middle to end of Episode 3 shed light on Mirai's background which explains partially what happened to her clan, why she is so introverted, and what made her fear battles which really cleared up much of the confusion I felt while watching this ANDDDDDD well... massive battle coming into Episode 4! I'm excited for some action and characterization. I'm not gonna touch on any of the other characters and what not because I don't wanna spoil it. Please give it a watch; at the very least - the animation itself is worth it!

Underground Comic Con

So... a few days ago, while I'm at work, my mom sends me this picture saying, "Hey, do you wanna go?"

I thought, "How cute, my mom is actually trying to be involved in my interests for once. You know what? I'm going because we might not have this opportunity again".

I know you're like, uhm... why not?

Well, Underground Comic Con is held in Wilmington, DE.

If you're from Delaware, you know that anything that reeks "fun" or "excitement" gets shut down, damn near, immediately.

...

Anyway; I've never been to anything "comic" related. I've been to 2 anime conventions in the past but never a comic convention because... I'm not really into comics for the stories - I just like the art.

To say the least, for something so small (probably because it was free), I was completely blown away!

90% of the authors and artists in attendance were POC. That's unheard of!

Everybody was so kind and encouraging. I really wish I was more prepared beforehand.There was so many prints and merch to be bought, there was a cute little cosplay competition, and I was ill prepared for EVERYTHING. For the most part, cash vs. credit was the issue - having the money via plastic but needing cash sucked soooo bad, because there were many prints that I looked forward to purchasing and I'd love to support all of the projects I witnessed but unfortunately, I'm a lazy, 20 year old, girl. I wasn't gonna go out of my way to hit an ATM tbh. Though, I did make sure to pick up everybody's business card, visit their sites, and follow or 'like' every page.

I would put up the cosplay pics but they actually came out worse than I thought... which sucks. Oh well.

Though everyone there gave me vital and useful pieces of advice, I was really intrigued after conversing with Shawn Alleyne. I'm gonna guess that it's because it's easier for me to relate to people in my age range. To keep this post short, I want to end by saying thank you - I appreciated your kind words, advice, and encouragement. I've actually been in the process of writing my own story but as much as I would like to work on the art for it; I suck. I don't mean that in a "I'm actually good but I don't see my art as good," kinda way ... I mean I still can't draw HANDS. Telling me to chase my dreams and not being cheesy about it while including your own personal story really helped to pull me out of a artistic block and an emotional rut.

I love everybody's art skill and stories pretty much the same but Shawn's story really grabbed my attention. This is the type of story I wanna read. This is the type of story I've thought about but nobody seems interested to write about. A comic with a BAD ASS, female protagonist with some hate in her heart? It felt like he basically took my essence, created me in a fictional world. It might sound like a pure fangasm (which it kinda is), but I was really, REALLY, loving his ideas and art so I bought as much as I could without breaking my bank account lol.

I bought a sketchbook & the dopest print from him. No regrets! Getting my print framed this weekend ^_^

For more information on other artists' who attended as well as their contact information or websites, just visit http://undergroundcomiccon.com/ because... I'm tired & it's almost 1am & I should sleep nao.

Thanks for reading!