don't be dull, be fannish

Synopsis: Kantarou and company are duped into exterminating youkai for a beautiful and powerful businesswoman with a nasty secret! And that's just the start of this volume's gripping revelations when a new enemy appears. Meet Raikou Minamoto, a fellow youkai exterminator--who is determined to kill the legendary Demon-Eating tengu!

Review: The two main stories were great. The specials kinda... lame, I guess. Utter crack. I prefer fun with some substance. But the two main cases were rather intriguing, especially the one about the opium smuggling ring. I loved the little chat between Kantarou and Haruka, when Haruka realized that he and Kantarou really are getting closer, becoming friends and not just a master and a servant. That one was cool!

Synposis: The ghost-busting adventures continue as Haruka's uncertainty about his past grows--and he still doesn't recall anything about the time before he was sealed...

Review: This manga is so good. I mean, I watched the anime so I basically know what will happen, but still, there are so many scenes/adventures that never happened in the anime. What I adore about this manga is that one moment, it's all fun and roses, and then Kantaro makes such a sad face and you realize how incredibly lonely he is, that for him, Haruka is the only family he has, the only friend.

Vol. 6: Oh my, the drinking binge was hilarious! Fye and Sakura mewling and Shaolan wanting to fight a chair with a spoon. And Kurogane's "I will kill you all!" look. Ha! I laughed out loud, it was that funny!

Vol. 7: Wow, Seishiro is creepy! He doesn't look as handsome as in "X" or "Tokyo Babylon" but the creepy smile is still in place. For the longest time I couldn't figure out who he was looking for - and then, when it was revealed, I went "Duh!" Let's just say that I don't know that much about the Clamp-world.

You know what I love about this manga? The characters are having fun and bashing things and suddenly, there's this somber moment and you learn something new about them and you realize that despite all appearances, they are actually very lonely people.

Let's see what books are on their way to me at the moment...

"City of the Gods (SG-1, Book 4)" by Sonny Whitelaw (here!)
"Do No Harm (SG-1, Book 11)" by Karen Miller (here!)
"Star Trek: Movie Tie-In" by Alan Dean Foster (here!)
"Star Trek: Rihannsu (Omnibus)" by Diane Duane (here!)
"Taking Wing (Star Trek: Titan, Book 1)" by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 1" by Nagaru Tanigawa
"Tsubasa Chronicles Vols. 5-8" by CLAMP (here!)

And some used books that I managed to get my hands on through a very kind friend:
"Exogenesis (SGA, Book 4)" by Sonny Whitelaw and Elizabeth Christensen
"Fate of the Phoenix" by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath
"Price of the Phoenix" by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath
"Star Trek: New Frontier (Omnibus)" by Peter David

I really need to stop buying so much stuff!

I started reading "Hunter's Prayer" by Lilith Saintcrow, 2nd in her Jill Kismet series, but I didn't feel like it, so I set it aside for the time being and picked up "Unfallen Dead" by Mark Del Franco, the 3rd book in his Connor Grey series.

I'm liking the manga much more than the anime. The manga gives the fan more hints, it tells the reader much more about who the characters are, what secrets they might harbor. So far, I like Fye best. He and Kurogane and Mokona Modoki are a great trio. Shaolan and Sakura are too sugary cute - though their story is just as painful, of course. Also, it's great to see characters from various shows pop up, especially if they actually died in those shows and here they are alive and sometimes even happy. It was so much fun to see Touya and Yukito in this one again :P

I went on an Amazon rampage again. Lotsa manga was bought!

"Yami no Matsuei 5+6" - which means that I'm now up to book 8 and I don't know if I will continue with the series. After book 8, Yoko Matushita totally lost control of the plot. Besides, the series is still not finished - and probably never will be. Book 8 is the place where the anime ended...
"Tsubasa Chronicles 1" - I didn't really want to buy this series since it didn't catch my interest as anime but while reading "xxxHolic", I realized that I'm missing a huge part of the overall story. So, yeah...
"Gestalt 6-8" - and I'm now up-to-date with this series by Yun Kouga. It's so dark and creepy and not funny as it seemed at the beginning. But I love it nonetheless! \o/

Also, I've been reading Mark Del Franco's "Unshapely Things" and it's really good. People compare it to Butcher's "Harry Dresden" series but I like the druid Jango Dent much better than the wizard Harry Dresden, don't know why.