1/2 Prince Review by Midnight Ice Queen on Of Anime and Video Games

I have a secret. I have a thing for anime and manga where the main character swaps genders or cross-dresses. I like a scenario where a character has to pass for the opposite gender or is turned into the opposite gender. I like body swap stories because I just love it when guys have to act like a girl to avoid notice. It’s just hilarious.

½ Prince gives me that gender swap thrill. Feng Lan is challenged to play a new game called Second Life by her annoying twin brother. Determined to prove that she can excel at the game, Feng Lan rushes home and is the first person to log onto Second Life. As a bonus, she is given one wish that she uses to make a male character named Prince. Thus, she descends into the life consuming game of Second Life where she makes friends, kills at lot of things, build an army and more.

Plus Factor

Gender swapping. My favorite thing. The interesting part about Fend Lan being Prince is that she acts totally like a boy would. Little about her would make others think that Prince was played by a female character. She soon has girls developing crushes on Prince who is brave and bloodthirsty, and can be a bit. She even earns the title Blood Elf when she slew many monsters for over four hours while her party just watched. She can get nutty.

The manga gives the readers a huge array of characters to love and none of them lack in variety. My favorites are Kenshin and Sunshine, because they are cute. Visually the art is stunning, but the artist has the tendency of making a lot of boy characters looks to pretty.

In Second Life, the players do everything you can imagine. Level up, join parties, join guilds, enter competitions, own property, etc. The world could almost be to big.

The enthusiasm, the life, and the energy from the characters on Second Life will actually make you want to play the game. Everyone loves being in the world of Second Life. The people have a liveliness in them that perks you up a bit.

The Negatives

Sometimes I don't know what the heck is going on in ½ Prince. Everything seems to happen to fast. The characters are great but there can be to many cooks in the kitchen so to speak. It can lead you feeling a little lost in the story and you'll have to keep reading to see when things will make sense again.

I dislike how involved everyone get into this virtual reality world. No matter how fun it is it's not real life. You see people getting in relationships and getting married on Second Life as if it matters in reality. It's scary how involved some of them get with a game.

[spoiler! Don't read this paragraph] Guiliaste, a character in half life, falls in love with Prince and chases him all throughout Second Life, but Feng Lan doesn't take him seriously. The real life Guiliaste however, has developed deep feelings for Prince, which is sad because he happens to be Feng Lan's university professor. They could actually be dating in real life if he paid attention to her in class!

½ Prince is like a roller-coaster ride. You never quite know where the story will take you. For some of you this might be good while for others not so much. They have rich characters and exciting battles, so if you're looking for some fun and excitement you should check it out.

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Claymore Review by Midnight Ice Queen on Of Anime and Video Games

Claymore is another manga that I like that contains more violence and gruesome fighting than I prefer. It was the first voluntary anime I watched after Berserk that showed that much blood and castrating. I don't know how I ended up watching the show, but after one episode I was hooked.

Claymore is a dark fantasy set in a medieval world where humans are plagued by Yoma. Yoma are shape shifters that terrorize and feed on humans. To combat the Yoma, a group called the Organization created human-Yoma hybrids called Claymores to slay the Yoma. For a fee.

While Claymores do protect the people from the Yoma, they are not liked and feared due to their strangeness and unnatural abilities. Every human that turns into a Claymore experiences a change in hair and eye coloring, strength, abilities, and sometimes personality. They are called silver-eyed witches and generally look like they could and would kill you.

Clare did when she first appeared. Clare is the protagonist of this story. She ends up heading to a town to save them from a Yoma invasion. This Yoma was using the disguise of a human and hiding in plain sight. Eventually Clare manages to kill this Yoma and save a boy named Raki. He ends up following her afterwards and becomes the reason she begins to open up and get more in touch with her human side.

The anime has three arches to it. The first is the arch where Clare and Raki first meet, the second flashes back to Teresa, the no. 1 Claymore of her time, and how she saved a young Clare, and the third arch that deals with Priscilla.

Plus Factor

I think it was the female warriors that got me into watching Claymore. Plus, they are fully covered warriors unlike the fan service female warriors seen all over the world on video games, anime, and manga. All of the Claymores are female and they are not degraded sexually like other women which I appreciate that.

Claymore has a great storyline and amazing fighting scenes. It is not nearly as gruesome as Berserk, but it has its moments. The Claymores have a unique history and are as interesting as the Yomas themselves, but the anime only reveals enough to keep you interested in thinking.

Clare, the heart of the story, also becomes someone you start to root for. The more you dive into her story and see all the hardships she had to endure the more you bond with her. She has had the most things happen to her in her short life, but she keeps moving. I am sad that I can't get into the details of her life without spoilers, but if you like unwrapping a mystery then Clare's past should satisfy you.

The writers of this anime follow the theme that no one is safe. It gives the anime unpredictability, which I have missed in a world that seems to just make the same kind of stories where characters don't get hurt or die because the author likes to wrap his or her characters in wool. I appreciate that no one is free from dying or harm, even if I wait in dread for the sickening surprise one of my favorite character might face.

The Negatives

Sigh…there are always a negative to something. My enthusiasm for this anime helped keep things moving, but there were some points in the anime where I was wondering when things were going to the good part. Pacing things correctly without boring readers is a hard thing to do. I wanted to know more and more about Clare and Teresa (I hate what happens to her) and the story wasn't providing it fast enough.

Like most Anime, I felt like it was to short, but like a good story it left the story open enough for you imagine what happens afterward. I have not read the manga yet, but I look forward to uncovering what happens in the future for the characters and Priscilla.

Overall, there was many bases that I felt like weren't covered (Priscilla), but it was more annoying than anything. I hate feeling incomplete in a story. Claymore also lost some steam that it had in the beginning. What started off as a spark slowed down to a fizzle, and left an ending that…well I'll let you judge whether you like the ending or not.

Despite everything, I would watch Claymore over and over again. They is something about the way the story is told that draws you in and doesn't let you go. It's interesting, thoughtful, and inspiring. The artwork and the music makes everything goes hand in hand. It has its gray areas, but Claymore is worth a watch. It aimed for my heart, especially where it concerns Claire and Teresa.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go off somewhere to cry. I hate what happens to Teresa. Seriously, it makes me emotional. *Goes cries in a corner*

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Pure Trance by Junko Mizuno

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Um...Pure Trance is a manga made by the twisted mind of Junko Mizuno.  She is well known for her versions of Fairy Tales such as Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel.  Junko Mizuno's work is not your typical share of manga.  Her stories are dark, humourous and fun to read.  There is something strange and unique about her stories and the unpredictability is always welcomed.  

Pure Trance is one of Mizuno's first works to stray away from established fairy tales and attempt to make an original story.

Summary

After the third World War, Earth's surface became toxic and forced humans to live underground.  Life underground has created a ton of social problems as a result of consuming a pill called pure trance (overeating being the symptom).  The story centers around a hellish hospital where a crazy director named Keiko Yamazaki whips her nurses and torments her patients.  Despite what you read, Pure Trance is a dark and humorous shoujo ("girl") manga!  

This girl manga is not a tale about high school or multiple love interests.  There is a ton of unpredictable moments in this manga.  While I do love some unpredictability, I wished there was more structure to Pure Trance.  Pure Trance lacks the structure that Mizuno's previous works had and I was lost reading this manga until a few pages in.  There is a bit of exposition in the beginning to explain the state of the world but I felt that dialogue and drawing could have saved me from the exposition.    

Mizuno's artwork is different from a majority of manga out there.  There is a chibbi like style to it.  As a fair warning for those that read anything in public, Mizuno puts her characters in various forms of undress.  Issues like pregnancy, extreme drug usage, and other feminine problems.  The cute art style of this manga makes such issues less shocking and adds to the insanity in the story.  The story ends suddenly, unfortunately.  

There is a ton of trivia on the bottom of each page and is worth reading on a second reading.  Mizuno has gone on to make other original manga.  I hope her other original works will grab me whenever I get around to reading them.  Pure Trance just did not grab me.  

Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club Anime Review

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This is the first sport's  and school club anime I have ever watched.  This is also the first anime I have seen that was targeted at fangirls and was not yaoi or shounen ai.

Free!  Iwatobi Swim Club starts with four friends (Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin) who used to swim together in tournaments.  Years pass by and everyone parts ways while Rin moves to Australia.  When Haruka, Makoto, and Nagisa reunite years later in high school, Nagisa gets the idea to clean and fix the run down swimming pool at their school and try to make a new swimming club.

 When an older Rin (who goes to a different High School) returns to Japan and meets his former buddies, he is mad that Haruka has stopped swimming competitively.   Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin soon enter in swimming competitions against Rin, ultimately bonding with each other and finding out the true reason for Rin's distant behavior.

Like most sport's anime, Free! does explain to the viewers, through the characters, different styles of swimming.  Haruka is EXTREMELY excited to go swimming in the water.  With his excitement for water in general, I would not be surprised if water was not the only thing being filled in the run down swimming pool.  When Summer comes around again, I'm sure some people would love to try the freestyle, butterfly, or backstroke.

Free has some funny moments.  I enjoyed the moments when the Iwatobi Swim Club was teaching their new member Rei how to swim because he joined the swim club without knowing how to swim.   Rei is a wonderfully exaggerated version of the nerd archetype and watching him follow Rin during a festival had me laughing up a storm.  The characters in Free!  are not three dimensional but, as the anime goes on, characters' personalities become fleshed out.   I was surprised when I found why Rin was such an ass toward the end of Free! and I started to like him.

As far as the fanservice goes,  Free! is not that bad compared to the ongoing rise of fanservice in general for anime these days.  None of the male characters walk around completely nude.  In fact, most of Free!'s fanservice involves physically fit male characters swimming shirtless with various camera angles.  Because, you know, most males swim shirtless.  Any moment when of the characters are nude, the view is from a far distance.  

One thing I found fascinating with Free is that the fanservice is only targeted at fangirls and thus, the female characters Miho and Gou are never seen in a swimsuit.  Miho is just the homeroom teacher and faculty advisor, while Gou is the swim club manager and the group's friend; not a love interest.

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club is getting a second season in the Summer due to the anime's massive popularity.  I will be happy to review the second season.  For anyone who still wants more Free!, I suggest watching the Free! parody 50% off on Youtube.

Vamplets Book One: The Nightmare Nursery

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If anyone remembers my post about the anime convention called Nekocon, then you might remember seeing a picture of Vamplets Book One: The Nightmare Nursery.   I was drawn to the cover by Amanda Coronado's unique style and the bright colors on the cover.    There is one thing I love the most about webcomics is that the author and the artist can be creative without having to stick to certain conventions.  

The hardcover of the webcomic I brought at Nekocon

Vampyre babies, vamplets, are popping  out of the blue (literally...when vampyre couples say "I love you", a vampyre baby pops out of thin air).  Like good parents, the vampyre couples call for someone else to take care of their offspring.  Destiny Harbor is a human looking for a better job.  She would rather babysit than spend hours selling corndogs in a mall.  A huge flying moth, from a world called Gloomvania, gives her a job add for a babysitter position as Governess of "The Nightmare Nursery".  Thanking the moth was some kind of dream, she takes the offer and goes to Gloomvania and takes care of five vampyre babies.  

The artwork of Vamplets

Despite the story taking place in night time, the use of pink and purple color combinations are pleasing to the eye.  The artist has a talent in drawing multiple characters that all have a distant look.  

This is not a serious comic in the least.  There is plenty of humor to be had in Vamplets as the comic is very self-aware.   The world building in Vamplets is a parent in Gloomvania where "sweet is hideous, and hideous is sweet".   Destiny could run into some issues with the zombies, werewolves, and other vampyres running about who would love to do some harm to her.  Not to forget that the vampyre parents want their babies to be perfect.  I would like to read more of Vamplets whenever the creator makes more content.  

Vamplets Book One: The Nightmare Nursery is a humorous webcomic with a distant artstyle and a unique story.  If its worth a read.  

Beast Master Manga Review

This review was brought to you by Midnight Ice Queen on Of Anime and Video Games 

It’s not often that I talk about short and sweet mangas, mainly because they are over to soon and I hate that. A short manga can give you a pleasant evening or a sad evening when you reach the end of the story. Especially if you want more, but Beast Master is a awesome little story that wraps you in a sweet embrace before saying goodbye.

The main character is Yuiko. She loves animals with a frightening intensity that sends every animal in the vicinity running. Even her own cat doesn’t like her, but this does not keep her from trying to befriend every animal she sees.

One night while searching for her cat she meet Aoi, a naïve and pure hearted boy who is often alienated from humans because of his scary appearance. Animals love him while people are afraid of him. He is sweet, shy, and socially awkward. He also has a berserk mode that activates when he is injured and sees blood. Because of his appearance, he gets into dangerous situations through no fault of his own.

Yuiko becomes his first friend, as she’s not afraid of animal attacks and certainly not afraid of a beast boy. Aoi is scared to lose her as a friend, but Yuiko sticks by him despite his scary appearance or his berserk mode. Slowly, but not surprisingly, they both start to fall in love.

I like romance stories. I particularly like the ones where the main character do not instantly fall in love. I like a slow romance where things happen gradually. Yuiko and Aoi relationship in some ways is more mature and pure than a lot of high school romance manga.

Some troubling things do happen to both Aoi and Yuiko, through no fault of their own. When danger comes and Aoi is goes into survival-mode Yuiko is always there to pull him back to humanity. She also helps him establish relationships with other classmates while he helps her get animals to like her. Their relationship is a good balance of give and take, with Yuiko protecting his feelings when he is misunderstood and Aoi pouring her with affection for being so good to him.

Beast Master is a cute and sweet story. It has dark moments and problems outside of an ordinary life. Thankfully Aoi and Yuiko get through their problems together. There is an art to a short story. A way of giving them enough to keep them wishing for more while still being content. If I had one gripe it would be how short the manga is, but sometimes I guess it’s best not to tamper with a good story.

Love this image

Skip Beat Manga Review

This review was brought to you by Midnight Ice Queen on Of Anime and Manga!

I don’t know what drew me to Skip Beat, but it’s a story I immensely enjoy. Skip Beat is a about love, or the lack there off, transformation, and revenge. Imagine if you will, this scenario:

Imagine you are an orphaned girl who had a crush on your childhood friend, Shou-chan for as long as you could remember. Imagine also, that you are taken in by his family with the intentions of being his future wife. You are taught to be a proper Japanese wife and run the family business. Your whole life revolves around him and his needs.

Then he decides not to take over the family business and become a top pop idol. He moves to Tokyo for his big chance and you follow him. You find a job to support him and neglect school to make his dreams come true and as soon as he’s signed and begins to make a name for himself, well…he sorts of drops you like you were nothing.

He’s been cheating for a while, he’s been unromantic and uninterested in you, and he is honestly surprised that you are still so gullible and naive. You catch him cheating and he really doesn’t care. This would describe the life of Kyoko in Skip Beat.

Kyoko felt like her heart was ripped from her chest and placed in a grinding machine. She swears revenge on Shou and declares that she will become a better star than he ever was. She also vows never love again. Blaming her predicament on her love for Shou.

Kyoko is surprisingly good at transforming herself for her acting roles, but Shou disregards her achievements, which drives her deeper and deeper into a fit of rage. Her mentor and love interest Tsuruga Ren wants her to get over Shou and live her life, but Kyoko’s rage won’t let her.

Plus Factor

I love the artwork and the humor. Some things in this manga really had me laughing. I also love seeing Kyoko act. Seeing her transform almost completely into the character is surreal and you can tell she has potential to be a great actor. You find yourself loving to watch her perform and anticipating when she will become even better than before. The other characters all support her journey in their own way, but Ren and Kyoko is the relationship you will probably be waiting to develop the most.

She's like a wrathful angel! I love it.

Negatives

Kyoko sometimes get in her head way to much. In the later chapters, you will find way to many pages dedicated just to her internal monologue. Kyoko also allows Shou to continue to manipulate her  through anger, which gets tiresome. I tried to remember that Kyoko is still so young, but sometimes I think she needs a splash of cold water to wake her up.

Another negative is the plot line. Sometimes things seem to happen in odd order. I couldn’t get a good sense of the timeline. Some events that was suppose to take maybe a day in Kyoko’s life seem to take several chapters to get through. The pacing on some events might seem to long while others are to short. It puts me off a bit. It’s like something is wrong with the storytelling, but I just can’t put my finger on what.

Skip Beat will give you laughs. It will make you smile and make you frown. Some things will break your heart and some things will fill you with joy. Skip Beat lets you see the fragile side of the characters and where they are hurt the most. It’s not as light-hearted as the cover art, and it has this depth to it that makes it…more.

I’m glad I started this manga and I hope to see Kyoko become an amazing actor, but only for herself. I would also like to see Ren allow himself to live again, but time will tell. If zany, crazy, and funny characters appeal to you than you might want to give this a read. Skip Beat is like a rollercoaster ride. If you’re up for something different, creative, and sometimes insane then you might have found your match.

Yes, that is Kyoko while acting!