Jazze's Blog

Anime Relations: Shinseiki Evangelion

Because things have changed.

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¡Hola! ¿Como estás? Me llamo Jazz y me encanta leer manga, especialmente de la acción y la aventura. También escribo un blog en Tumblr, donde tengo mucho arte y escritos en inglés. Pero no hablo español muy bien porque lo me detuve sacar el año pasado. Sólo nivel dos (2).

I am just an American girl who loves reading manga (action/adventure ♥) and watching fantastic animation from any culture and any medium, whether it be from France, Japan, or the United States, or CG or traditional. (Pst... I prefer traditional.)

Some of my favorites, which YOU MUST READ/WATCH, include: Avatar: the Last Airbender [cartoon]; Voices of a Distant Star [manga]; Summer Wars [animated movie]; Dennou Coil [anime]

I'm currently watching Young Justice, Thundercats (2011), Adventure Time, Glee, Digimon Hunters, and Sherlock Holmes (1984) -- whenever I can catch it on. Reading ST&RS, Ao no Exorcist, Enigma, and Hunter x Hunter. And Homestuck? Finished it at page 6k, so don't ask me whether I've heard of it or not.

I’ve also turned into a Tumblr blogger/addict, where I’ll be blogging a lot of glorious Pixiv art, illustrations from fellow Tumblr users, social commentary on various American news sources, and my personal life and rants. I have to warn you, however, that I like to reblog giveaways (which are always deleted once they’re past their prime). I also post status updates EVERY DAY on Twitter, mostly me ranting and... ranting... so if you’re okay with it, be my guest.

As of this entry, I’m in my final year of high school and so ready to take on the world! Very quiet and introverted, but I don't bite! :) My dream is to become a story animator; given my current skills, that’s unlikely. But hey, a girl can dream, right?

I don’t always type with proper grammar.

I felt that my profile was severely outdated -- how long ago did I write it? 2010? -- and decided to create a new version for late 2011! I wanted to store mine first, hence this post.

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So, today I just realized that I didn't have a profile at all! To change this, I'm going to tidy this a bit so that it isn't annoyingly blank.

I'm Jazz, and I'm a casual manga reader / anime watcher. Just so people know, I'm a (short) girl. I do prefer manga, hence the long manga list compared to the anime list. I love great storytelling with an actual plot, realistic character development, and the pretty artwork. Typically, I don't read shoujo manga with romance since they're usually cliche, but exceptions can be made. Poor art is an automatic turnoff. It took me a while to get used to Claymore's art style (I'm pleased to say that it's gotten better though).

Favorites? Right now, my all-time favorite is Voices of a Distant Star (manga) because even though it is romantic, it does show through the sketchiness of the drawings the emotions that cannot be expressed only in the words: "I love you." It's fantastic and made me cry the first time I read it. I didn't read it online; I borrowed it from the library. The translations were really well-done since they managed to convey what the characters meant well.

Kuroshitsuji is also a good manga, despite its popularity. The plot intrigues me and there's plenty of suspense for a monthly released manga. The art is pleasant to look at (though sometimes painful when Sebastian's nose is drawn way farther down his face than normal). The mangaka's illustrations of finely delicate food are my favorite part of this manga, aesthetic-wise. Sebastian's a bastard, and I do not ship Sebastian x Ciel. I don't see any appeal in yaoi or shounen-ai that doesn't come as the result of "love." I think they both respect each other and that's that.

Former favorite was D. Gray-Man.

Also, I rarely give out 10s. If one anime or manga gets it, that means that it was so outstanding. I love my 10s and they rose to and extended beyond my expectations. Former 10s were Death Note (manga) and Code Geass (anime, both seasons). Therefore, you should watch Summer Wars because it's a great movie for everyone.

Other than the world of anime and manga, I'm actually not involved in the fandom as much as I would have liked to. I'm a lazy overachiever, so I don't spend a lot of time outside. Not only do I read, write, and draw, but I also love cartoons. Especially Avatar: The Last Airbender -- go watch it! Currently watching Generator Rex and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (never watched much of Ben 10 and Alien Force) in hopes that they'll be like Avatar or Teen Titans.

I should go out and buy Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver and play it.

...This is why I should not use MAL as a procrastination tool and actually do my homework. I've wasted so many hours on the Internet. Bye for now!

While lurking some forums on GaiaOnline, I came across this recommendation of a manga called LIFE. Apparently, TokyoPop had never completed its English adaption of that manga, and it had won the Kodansha Award for shojo back in 2006. That's pretty good!

So, I started reading LIFE online and while I was never able to fully complete it due to the missing pages and its ongoing publication, I realized that in Japan, bullying could go so far. I actually sympathized with the protagonist as she had to cope with bullying. The antagonist, her former friend, was severely... wicked. Although, I could understand why she bullied the protagonist but, really, that far?

I blame her obsession with her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's personality. What. The. Heck. ;_; That obviously escalated from this one little nasty rumor that was totally false. The teachers, the parents, the school, the classmates -- they all did NOTHING. Nothing so much whatsoever.

Suenobu Keiko is the mangaka of LIFE, and I was curious about her other works, so I started reading her much shorter, cheerier manga called Vitamin. Yeah, definitely more cheerful. The protagonist starts out normal, but one incident in which a guy witnesses her in a compromising position spreads a nasty rumor and it then gets out of hand. She is so incredibly lucky to have supporting parents and uses manga to escape reality. I love the ending, where she was able to be free on her own, and subtly say "eff you" to her bullying classmates. Subtly. It was sort of like revenge.

I would strongly recommend these manga, heck, any work of Suenobu Keiko, if you don't mind moments of rape, self-mutilation, bullying, etc. Actually, I skimmed over the graphic scenes so that works too.

Yesterday, I realized that the mangaka who created Kuroshitsuji had a previous manga (his or her first) called Rune Blaster. Naturally, owing to the success of Kuroshitsuji so far, I began reading Rune Blaster -- online, shamelessly.

What did I think of it?

First of all, vampires. Awesome. And best of all they didn't dazzle like the Cullens from the mediocre series (not saga!) of Twilight. I liked the concept of these vampires with linear weapons and that it is considered taboo to drink human blood and, the most severe crime of all vampire crimes, biting other vampires.

It was really a nice read; my complaint would be the last chapter and the pacing of the story (it was okay, sometimes it feels a bit rushed). To all who say the Six/Seven fight wasn't a real fight -- come on, is this a real shounen manga? The art style certainly don't say that for me. It's the first manga so I'm not expecting too much. But the art style and the quality... wow. Remarkable. I thought it would be of lesser quality than Kuroshitsuji. Both art are the same! Except that Kuroshitsuji is a tad bit more detailed.

I must, however, say that onemanga is miscategorizing it as "shounen-ai." Shounen-ai... come on. I didn't see any BL in this manga.

It was definitely worth the read, no matter what others say.