I just finished the manga Banana Fish by Yoshida Akimi. Although classified as a shojo, this story is way beyond a shojo and in a category all it's own. If nothing else, read this manga for the plot. Sure, there's a gay relationship between the protagonists in the subtext (nothing happens, don't worry, and it's never spoken) but it's an honest, pure relationship between friends who have connected soul to soul. The ending is heartbreaking and would have been much less powerful if Yoshida-san had not finished the series the way she had. This is definitely among the best written mangas out there, even if it hasn't received much attention. I would check out 3 volumes at a time from the public library, finish those the same day, and want more (had homework though, haha).

This manga is pretty violent. It's a story about New York gangs, scandals in the U.S. government, twisted pedophiles, and boy prostitutes. Out with the guns, knives, poisons, grenades, and drugs! Even if this seems more like an adult manga, it was written oriented towards young girls. I can understand not reading it for the content if you're young, but honestly, it makes the story that much richer and believable.

I love this manga. It's action-packed rather than full of flowers, big eyes and sparkles. It's like a shonen in the way it has a lot of action and fighting but like a shojo in the way it gets into the characters heads. It makes you think about it long after you put down any volume and leaves you aching for more if you're in the middle of the series. You learn to genuinely care, especially, for the good guys. Some people might not like the art. Personally, even if the way the characters are drawn are not always to my taste, I feel that the style works well for this story. Again, it's not a typical shojo, or even a typical manga. And if you really have a need for bishies, the main character is one (which was the main reason he always got into, ahem, trouble) particularly after Yoshida-san gives him a new look modeled after River Phoenix.

Wow, I can't believe it's the new year already! So much to do and so little time. *sighs* I have been up in Lake Tahoe the past week. Mostly stayed in the resort making beaded turtles and playing tennis. I started a book called Princess by Jean P. Sasson and have about a quarter of the book to go. It's a fast read about a royal princess's life in Saudi Arabia. Quite good, and it is the actual experiences of a real princess and the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. Very interesting read. I recommend it to feminists everywhere. Well, feminists in particular.

Most of the fictional writings that I have been working on have been on hold, since school has been keeping me busy. I hope to finish at least one chapter of something before winter break is over.

Mangas I have read lately and recommend: Cantarella by You Higuri, Godchild by Kaori Yuki, Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida

Well, that's all I have for now!

wow, it's been a while since i posted anything here.
it's finals this week, and i just finished my two most difficult finals today! yay! still have school tomorrow, but i have friday off.

most of the art i have been making is for school and i can't scan it at the moment. I'll be drawing more stuff though! writing is completely at a standstill.

currently watching Gakuen Heaven. Keita is really cute, haha.

YAY! I got a call from the library today that said that I won the grand prize in their Manga Art Contest! I'm feeling happy! Unfortunately, I was not able to scan the original before I submitted my piece. I did manage to make a copy, though. I also scanned the copy, but I want to post the original because of image quality issues. Some of the submitted artwork, as well as the winning pieces, will be up in the library, so I'm not sure when I'll get it back.

The most interesting thing about the piece is that I didn't start painting it until the night before I turned it in and nearly ended up almost pulling an all-nighter to finish. The silly thing had to be in by the 20th, but I had to finish it by the 19th since the library is close to church. Ah well, I turned it in on time.

Wow, I haven't posted in a month. Scary. Of course, I don't really update here much.

Anyway, I've been in Hawaii for the past week on the island of Maui. Just got back about two hours ago. Lot's of fun. Played tennis once, went snorkeling three times, and drove to Hana and Mount Haleakala. Hana is very beautiful, full of luscious green forest. There are usually a lot of waterfalls and gurgling streams, but it was rather dry this year. The drive is also rather torturous and incredibly windy. The Seven Sacred Pools are always pretty, though. On the other hand, I donated to the mosquito blood bank 24 times while in Hana, all at once. Itching like crazy at the moment. Mount Haleakala was very pleasant. My family, along with my godmother's family, watched the sunset from the summit of Haleakala. It's so high up that we were watching the sun sink into gold and pink clouds. Didn't get to watch the stars come out because my god-sister and my mom were getting cold. Mount Haleakala is pretty much the only place on Maui where you will need a winter parka!

Well, I'm tired. I'm working on chapter 5 of Gentle Smile, my entry for the anime art contest at the library, summer homework for school, and building a new wardrobe bought at Ikea. I'm also toying with more ideas for another (maybe two) Prince of Tennis fanfics and an original story. One of the fanfics is related to Gentle Smile.

If anyone is reading anything, and I'm including anything I've posted on LJ and FF.Net, please leave a comment! I want to know who's out there! Say "hi," or something!

Nothing much happening this week. I finished my Japanese class last week and will be going off to class again next week. Last week was rather funny. On Wednesday, during a five minute break in the middle of class, my friend and I decided to randomly skip around one of the bushes outside the classroom. Sensei comes out after we have completed one lap and asks us what we are doing. WE respond by telling her we're trying to keep our blood flowing. She thinks it's a good idea and skips with us! Sensei was funny. She did a bit of jazz dance for us, drew funny cartoons to illustrate a point, and acted like a little kid on occasion.

Chapter 4 of Gentle Smile is up on Fanfiction! It's an incredibly short chapter but it will be expanded upon in chapter 5. It's pretty much a flashback setup for the more serious events that are going to occur in the next chapter.

Meheh, I'm alive! I've just been really lazy since I got back from Lake Tahoe. I haven't even cleaned the house, so things are looking messier than ever. Most of my free time has been spent drawing and reading manga of various titles.

Many of the drawings I have been working on are fanart for Tenipuri, more specifically my own versions of the drawings in the story "Sketches" by amaya no shiori at Fanfiction. It's a pretty good story, but Shiori is at a loss as to how to continue the story. She needs suggestions.

I've also been working on an original artwork to submit into the anime drawing contest at one of the local libraries. This particular piece has been fun. I'm trying to figure out a background right now. Perhaps I'll scan t he lineart when I'm done with it, and I'll definitely scan it when I'm done.

Here's chapter 1 of my story, "Gentle Smile."

Note: It is meant to be confusing as to which character is which in this chapter since this is all mainly a setup for the story.  It will all be sorted out in chapter 2.  Of course, those of you who have seen the anime/read the manga will probably be able to tell who is who and be able to keep track of who is talking.

YAY FOR SUMMER!

It's all sunny and pretty outside! Haha, I need to propagate my Christmas cacti. The funniest thing is that they are blooming NOW. For those of you who don't know, Christmas cactus is supposed to bloom around, well, Christmas. The plants are really confused, haha! Hmm, I'm laughing a lot today... Oh well! Laughter is good medicine! And it's contagious! It's way too much fun to make everyone else in the same room start laughing too! Okay, I'm getting hyper.

SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a more academic note, I'm taking Japanese with a friend at a local community college! Should be fun, but it's going to be a really intensive course because it's only two weeks long for each session. I plan on taking Japanese 1 and 2, so that's 2 sessions. Basically it's 7 hours a day and 5 days a week! Perhaps I have had too much time to kill lately? Oh well.

But that's in July. On Saturday my family is going to Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border! We'll be staying for a week, so I probably will not update during that time. Usually I play a LOT of tennis when I'm in Tahoe, generally about 5 hours a day! There are also workshops like ceramics and suncatcher painting, glass/mirror etching, and cooking demos. I'm going to have lots of fun!

I'll be posting chapter 1 through 3 of my Prince of Tennis (aka PoT or Tenipuri for those that don't know) fanfic later. If anyone out there is good at summaries, I could use the help. My current summary sucks and doesn't even say what the main point of the story is.