Anime Review #5: Noragami

Noragami

adapted from Noragami by Adachi, Toka

Yato is a minor deity who lacks even a single shrine. In order to build his own shrine and gain recognition as a god, he scrawls his cell number on the wall of a downtown bathroom telling people he will help them in exchange for a 5-yen offering, becoming a self-styled "delivery god." Hiyori, the daughter of a respectable family, is almost killed in a traffic accident, but is rescued by Yato. This causes her to become a "hanyou," a person who can exit her body in soul form. She chases Yato down, and they begin to work together to help Yato be recognized. Yato also finds a boy named Yukine who becomes a Regalia, a "sacred treasure" that can be used by a god as a weapon to fight. The three of them battle phantoms who bring harm to humans as Yato's dark hidden history is gradually revealed.

Japanese: ノラガミ
Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Airing Date: January 5, 2014 to March 23, 2014
Producers: Bones, Avex Entertainment, FUNimation EntertainmentL, Kodansha, Ai Addiction
Genres: Action, Adventure, Shounen, Supernatural

Manga Review #1: Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan (Our Happy Hours)

"I have something I don't want to lose"

"So much so that these terrible feelings have grown."

A pianist who attempted suicide 3 times, Juri, is taken to help her aunt at a prison where murderers who killed indiscriminately are sentenced to death. There, she meets a man named Yuu who took the lives of 3 people. A mother's antagonism--a brother's death... Together they embrace the violent rebellion in their hearts caused by the large, deep scars they carry. However, before long, they both embrace an earnest hope in their hearts. "I want to live"...

Other Names: Our Happy Hours, Our Happy Time

Japanese: 私たちの幸せな時間

Volume(s): 1

Chapter(s): 8

Status: Finished

Published: 2007

Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Seinen, Psychological
Author(s): Yumeka, Sumomo (Art) || Gong Ji-Young (Story)
Serialization: Comic Bunch

Anime Review #4: Angel Beats!

Angel Beats!

Otonashi awakens only to learn he is dead. A rifle-toting girl named Yuri explains that they are in the afterlife, and Otonashi realizes the only thing he can remember about himself is his name. Yuri tells him that she leads the Shinda Sekai Sensen (Afterlife Battlefront) and wages war against a girl named Tenshi. Unable to believe Yuri's claims that Tenshi is evil, Otonashi attempts to speak with her, but the encounter doesn't go as he intended.

Otonashi decides to join the SSS and battle Tenshi, but he finds himself oddly drawn to her. While trying to regain his memories and understand Tenshi, he gradually unravels the mysteries of the afterlife.

Episodes: 13
Status: Finished Airing
Airing Date: April 3, 2010 to June 26, 2010
Producers: Aniplex, Dentsu, Key, P.A. Works, Mainichi Broadcasting, CBC, Movic, Visual Art’s, Sentai FilmworksL, ASCII Media Works
Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Supernatural

Fantastic Finds: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

A Quick Introduction

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publishing Date: 10 September 2013

The Synopsis (by Goodreads)

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Anime Review #3: No Game No Life

No Game No Life

adapted from No Game No Life by Kamiya Yuu

The story of No Game, No Life centers around Sora and Shiro, a brother and sister whose reputations as brilliant NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) hikikomori (shut-in) gamers have spawned urban legends all over the Internet. These two gamers even consider the real world as just another "crappy game." One day, they are summoned by a boy named "God" to an alternate world. There, God has prohibited war and declared this to be a world where "everything is decided by games"—even national borders. Humanity has been driven back into one remaining city by the other races. Will Sora and Shiro, the good-for-nothing brother and sister, become the "Saviors of Humanity" on this alternate world? "Well, let's start playing."

Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Airing Date: April 9, 2014 to June 25, 2014
Producers: Mad House, Media Factory, Sentai Filmworks
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Game, Supernatural

Anime Review #2: Nisekoi

Nisekoi (False Love)

adapted from Nisekoi by Komi Naoshi

Raku Ichijou is an average high school student. He also happens to be the sole heir to the head of a Yakuza Family called the Shuei-gumi. Ten years ago, Raku made a promise... a secret promise with a girl he met. They promised one another that they will "get married when they reunite." Since then, Raku never let go of the pendant the girl gave him.

Then one day, a beautiful girl named Chitoge Kirisaki transfers into Raku's class. Their chemistry was more than off. There was not a moment where they were not fighting. But by a weird turn of events, Raku and Chitoge agree to become fake lovers. Although his heart is really interested in his classmate Kosaki Onodera, Raku must continue pretending to be Chitoge's boyfriend.

Episodes: 20
Status: Finished Airing
Airing Date: January 11, 2014 to May 24, 2014
Producers: Aniplex, Shaft, Aniplex of America
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Shounen, Harem