Board 8 > Tom reads through the Bolo Family Manga Collection (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Brigadoon, Vol. 1
By: Nozomi Watase
Whose fault: Tombolo

This is one of babby's first manga, as I recall, but I didn't like it enough to pursue past the first issue. I remember feeling offput by a fanservicey scene, and pretty much nothing else. Babby!Tombolo was a lot more prudeish than Adult!Tombolo, but I was also a lot closer to the heroine's listed age of 13 back then, so this might be....an adventure.

We cold open on a skirt flip, albeit one where nothing is shown. Off to a fantastic start we are. Isshin is mocking Marin for being too poor to afford new panties, but he is chided by a moeblob-looking girl named....Moe. This is gonna be a long day. Picking on Moe and Marin's Granny is too much for Marin, and she kicks Isshin in the face. The teacher fails to restore order, so it falls to our resident ojousama Hannah to break up the fight and reprimand everybody involved.

Time to learn about Marin's home life and family. Her biological parents couldn't afford to raise her, so she lives in the bad part of town with her adoptive family. There's Gramps (an inventor), Granny (a granny), Mike (Gramps' assistant), The Aunties Momoi (identical cooks), June (a nurse), June's alcoholic divorced dad (who needs names?), Shiro (a sculptor), and Grandpa Gen (is dead). Gramps identifies these weather patterns as similar to the ones 100 years ago in 1869 when monsters fell out of the sky and the Blue Swordsman repelled them. Marin daydreams about this "Blue Swordsman" for a bit.

Marin visits a shrine connected to that incident when there's a...storm or quake or some other excuse to bust out our photoshop tools. There's now a city in the sky, a pretty boy who looks like her concept of the Blue Swordsman, and a talking cat. Monster attacks! The cat shows her a bottle that she throws at the monster. A robot (I guess?) shows up, trashes the monster, vows to protect Marin, and comes home for dinner.

This robot can talk and stuff. He's Melan Blue, a Monomokia (living weapon?) from Brigadoon, the world in the sky. He eats fifty helpings of dinner and tells Marin to call him back when more Monomokia show up to attack her. The cat thing sneaks another bottle thing into Marin's backpack. The next day at school there are more skirtflipping shenanigans, and we meet Tanzen, the resident cool guy at the school, and Makoto, the kid from last night who is now a transfer student. Come to think of it, I have no idea what happened to him during the fight scene. Dialogue implies he might be a time traveller with a vague idea of what's going on, and Tanzen might have a thing for Marin.

Monster attack at school! Marin has use the bottle thingy to call Melan in front of everybody, and then is the only one to figure out that maybe attacking the monster in the eye instead of its regenerating slime-ish body might be a good idea. Marin introduces Melan as her boyfriend for whatever reason, then gets ostracized so bad that she gets sent home.

Moe and Makoto chat about Marin, who was the only one not to treat Moe as some sort of glass doll because of her vaguely mentioned physical limitations. Melan has no friends, but used to have comrades. He only knows how to be Marin's protector. Monster attack! Moe saves Marin and Marin takes a hit for Melan and everybody bonds a bit. Some guy gets pictures. Moe's mom doesn't want her hanging out with Marin, probably because they seem upper-class and Marin is poor.

Landmarks around the world are being destroyed because Brigadoon is still up there. The photos from last paragraph have been released, so the police press Marin for information, and Moe's mom gets pissed seeing Moe with Marin in the paper. During the interrogation, monster attack! Marin's family fights with Melan to overcome the monster. The police want to take Melan and Marin into custody, but a direct order from the White House (?!?) mandates her release.
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Genre: Sci-fi


The President shows up in person to ask for Marin and Melan's help. Melan's avoiding giving any more details, but his job is to proect Marin and Brigadoon, which also means protecting Earth. The Day of Pasca has been mentioned vaguely twice now, with little further information given. I guess Grandpa Gen is Granny's true love and husband, which makes me wonder where exactly Gramps fits in.

Moe's mom seems to have transitioned from snobby jerk to actively evil. Makoto (call him Aloma) and Marin get caught in the rain. She takes him to her house, where he gets an eyeful of her changing out of wet clothes. Aloma has been researching the whole background thing with the blue swordsman 100 years ago. He sits like Grandpa Gen and still looks like Marin's imagination of the Blue Swordsman (...but she met the real one??) so that's gonna be relevant eventually I'm sure. He informs Marin that Brigadoon appears every 100 years, and talks about Edward Scissorhands, which doesn't yet exist. He later draws a parallel between Edward's impossible love and Melan. Marin asks if he's from Brigadoon, and he tells her that *she* is. The two worlds are falling towards each other and that's why all this is happening with the monomakia. Here's the scene that stuck in my head! Aloma pushes her up against the wall and says he wants to know everything about her body and secrets, while she thinks about how she's not wearing any panties and isn't ready. He's PROBABLY talking about her connection to all this, but I have never been more relieved to have a MONSTER ATTACK.

Melan is having some trouble in the ensuing 1v3 fight, but the save is made by Pyon and Eryun. They seem to be similar to Melan, and showed up earlier to spout Vague Cool Person Non-Exposition about how the Day of Pasca is near and Brigadoon will end if Crace doesn't return soon. They call Melan a traitor and pull swords on him.

My rating: 5/10
I like the character designs and general artwork. The premise and setting are somewhat interesting, and I'd be interested in reading more if we didn't keep putting the 13-year-old in sexual situations. Nothing particularly graphic even was shown (we saw some sideboob for a panel and that's all) but the frequency of implied pantyshots and such was enough to be a turnoff. I am noticing a theme in this topic of things being too fanservicey for me, and I don't think this will be the only time it drags down a manga I could have liked. We haven't even gotten to my ecchi-er stuff that I used to really like, but I'm not looking forward to my reactions when I get there.
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oh I forgot

Discussion question: How do you feel about fanservice and ecchi?
Hint for next: We'll see a lot more of this author later when we get to one of Wifebolo's favorites.
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Bus Gamer (1999 > 2001 The Pilot Edition)
By: Kazuya Minekura
Whose fault: Wifebolo
Genres: Action, suspense


If this is what I'm thinking of, it actually sounds more like my jam than Wifebolo's. (not EVERYTHING I like is cute girls or slice of life. Just...a lot of it >_>)

We meet Toki Mishiba, Kazuo Saitoh, and Nobuto Nakajyo. They are a team of three assembled to play a game between corporations. It's a three on three game ("bus" appears to be short for "business"?) where the home team has to keep the away team from stealing a valuable floppy disk of data for a set time period. No holds barred, it seems, as they pick up their eighth win in a row after Toki gives a jobber the ol' Tiger Knee. Some other player shows up afterwards and tells our heroes (Team Triple Anonymous, or AAA) that the game is more serious than they realize.

Home life time with Toki! He's a martial artist and college student who lives alone and needs money for something. Apparently the other two also do, and that's all they know about why they were recruited. Kazuo does some snooping (he might be the computer guy of the bunch?) and finds that the business game is a much bigger and more organized operation than what they had thought. There are rankings and everything! Our guys are in third. About that time, one of the guys from the previous match turns up dead. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. We don't have long to build suspense about that, because a few pages later, we win another match and one of the losers just kinda...explodes. We see the most cliched villain establishing shot ever, as a shadowy guy tells a wall of monitors about how it's good that they're starting to understand and will show the world what we can do and provide some sport and stuff.

We all think about backing out, but we all need the money and there's not really a way out and we probably should've asked more questions before getting involved, so oh well. The other player guy from earlier is keeping tabs on AAA, and discusses with his teammates: a shota and a Rasta. Everybody does a lot of walking around and looking cool, which is somewhat spoiled by the cowboy hat Toki has taken to wearing. Kazuo is indeed the computer guy of the group, and seems a lot softer and more reluctant than the others. They're starting to be stalked and "warned" and spied on. There's also a failed hit on Kazuo.

Kazuo wants a bit closer, more trusting relationship with his teammates, but they're both too cool to have friends. Also, Owada Life is going belly-up really fast, and they are a rival of AAA's sponsors, Midou Life. We figure that there are probably trade secrets on these disks, and have another chat over whether to keep going. Same conclusion.

Next match is a bit tougher, but comes out a win. Kazuo shoots a guy for the first time. The team goes out for yakiniku and tells Kazuo to keep the gun, because he's the only one immune to being bought off. But he trusts Toki. Also, more info on the other team we've met: the shota-lookin' one is the son of the chief of police, and I guess he pulls the other two out of prison when duty calls?
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We get the ol' "the higher ups told you to drop this case!" shtick, as Keiko Ichinomiya is starting to piece some of this together. She gets pissed and starts beating everybody at video games at the arcade until Kazuo shows up and takes her down. They bond, and she finds his gun because he's dumb. She tries to take in the team for questioning, but they escape after a two-hour off-screen chase scene. The higher-ups are messing with the rules- now BOTH teams have disks, and next game will be played at a department store...while it's open.

It's actually at the rooftop beer garden. Keiko is there off-duty, and too hammered to notice that there's a giant brawl going on around her with gunshots and stuff. The cops show up, and one of them is a referee, who asks for the losing team's disc.

There's a note from the author, detailing the history of this, and stating that he hopes to bring this back at some point.

My rating: 8/10
Heck I'd read it if it does/did. This is a premise I can dig even though it might get too dark for me at some point. I like settings that involve structured competition, especially if it's something you don't see in real life, like this, or Dangan Ronpa, or Battle Royale, or even lighter stuff like G Gundam. I think I'm supposed to be attracted to the heroes and I'm not, but it's not like they're getting their shirts off every other page, so whatever.

Discussion question: What's your favorite "competition" manga/anime? Could be sports or a tournament arc, or something more out there like this thing.
Hint for next: I am going into the next thing pretty much completely blind, so the best hint I can offer is that we're gonna be starting the letter C! That, and this manga is gonna take a bit.
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Cantarella, Vol. 1 (of 10)
Genres: Historical fiction, bishonen, dark fantasy
By: You Higuri
Whose fault: Wifebolo


"Cantarella" is the name of a poison, and our setting is Rome, 1475. A baby is born to Nachine in a thunderstorm. Nachine is pretty sure his father, Cardinal (um?) Rodrigo, sold him to demons. She tries to kill the baby, but accidentally burns the place down instead. Baby is fine, mother is presumably dead. Baby's name is Cesare Borgia (uhoh), and Cardinal Rodrigo gives him to Vanozza Catonei, his new lover.

Skip ahead a few years. Cesare saves his adoptive sister Lucrezia from her brother Juan's bullying. He's literally introduced trying to hit a puppy with a stick. Vanozza and Lucrezia seem to be the only ones not to treat Cesare like crap, which is unfortunate since Vanozza is forced to go marry some other guy. Juan is sent to court, and the mean Adriana de Mila takes over guardianship of the other two. Her son Orso Orsini hates Cesare for some reason, and Adriana forbids Cesare and Lucrezia from interacting. Cool Sword Guy Marrone saves Cesare from a gang of Orsinis that were about to beat (rape?) him. Cesare's makeup is on fleek today. Turns out Rodrigo is boinking an Orsini's wife, so that's why people want to get revenge on Rodrigo through Cesare. Joke's on them, as Rodrigo doesn't give a crap!

Cesare starts training under Marrone, and shows prodigious talent. Marrone's actually an assassin, who has also seduced the Orsini wife Giulia. Cesare is visited by a sorceror in moth form, who talks about Cesare's great evil potential and tells him not to trust Rodrigo. Trippy. I am pretty sure he already wasn't a big fan of his crappy dad though? He overhears Marrone boinking Giulia and giving her poison to use on Rodrigo. Cesare tries to make Giulia take the poisoned wine, but Rodrigo shows up, slaps him, and orders him away to seminary.

Cesare wants to run away with Marrone. They hug and then Marrone stabs him. Turns out that Marrone can also see the little demon-looking things that have been congregating every time Cesare gets mad. Vanozza could too. Cesare kills Marrone easily. Giulia tries to seduce Cesare, but when she hears of Marrone's death, he flips it around to blackmail her.

Time for new characters. Chiaro is a street urchin, and the son of a great assassin. Dad has been imprisoned to the point where his faculties have left him, and Chiaro has taken up his line of work to free him someday. They sic him on Cesare. When he puts on the mask, mild-mannered Chiaro becomes MICHELOTTO, THE ANGEL OF DEATH. The hit goes a bit south, and Cesare takes the mask and runs off. He appears to intend to use the Michelotto persona to make the murder and darkness and stuff his alter ego's problem, or something. Also of note, Chiaro can drive off the demon things. Cesare calls him his angel. I kinda shipped Cesare with Garrone but sure.

Chiaro tries again once Cesare gets to the seminary. He can't finish the job, but gets the mask back. Some relative of Cesare dies, so he goes back to Rome to claim his title. So does Juan, though. Juan abducts Lucrezia, but Cesare makes the save....wait no that's Chiaro. Chiaro is now Lucrezia's angel as well. Juan and Rodrigo see the demons as well. Rodrigo tells Juan, and Juan tells Cesare: Cesare's soul was sold to the devil so Rodrigo could become Pope.

My rating: 7/10
Too bishie for my tastes, and probably will also be too dark in the long run, but I do like me some intrigue. Let's see where this goes.
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Hoping to read one in the car tonight
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Cantarella, Vol. 2

yay slightly tipsy super tired recap uhhhh

Cesare quickly becomes suicidal. Chiaro saves him AND fails to kill him when he asks, in a fit of compassion and/or the gays. Cesare absorbs all those demon guys so that's trouble for everybody. He and Chiaro still have a standing agreement for Chiaro to shank him whenever. Rodrigo becomes Pope Alexander VI, and he and Cesare use each other to solidify power. Cesare seems to have dark powers now, like paralysis, compulsion, and paintouch. Cesare arranges Lucrezia's political marriage to big ol' douche Giovanni Sforza. Lucrezia has a thing for Cesare, Chiaro has a thing for Lucrezia, Cesare is using Lucrezia's thing for him and probably boinking Chiaro offscreen, and this is the weirdest dang love triangle.

Back to real time updating! Alcohol's wearing off, coffee's kicking in. The idea is that Cesare will be both a useful tool as a clergy as well as prevented from grander ambition, but Cesare is not gonna let that stop him. He scares off Rovere, one of Rodrigo/Alexander's chief rivals. Also there's a bathing scene because I guess water staves off the effects of using too much evil juice or something. There's also international politics that I'm having trouble braining.

Lucrezia is getting sad that she can't boink her brother, and Chiaro sneaks away to leave her flowers. On his escape, though, he's distracted by a musician, and thusly gets caught by Juan. Prince Djem, the musician, lets him go though. I feel like it's been a while since we've had a volume that didn't end on a cliffhanger, but here we are!

Some production sketches and other bonus material.

My rating: 6/10
There's gotta be a term for, like, more strongly implied than Ho Yay/gaybaiting but less explicit than yaoi and older than shonen-ai. At any rate, it's still pretty but I'm still not the target audience, and I didn't find the plot as engaging this time around.
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Cantarella Vol. 3


another short writeup for car reading

Juan and Djem are rumored to be an item, so we're marrying off Juan. Djem is Turkish royalty, but was exiled after losing a succession struggle with his brother. Tagio Della Volpe, whoever that is, is back. France is going after Naples, and Rovere is trying to parlay that into cleansing the Vatican. (ie, Alexander) Cesare arranges for Lucrezia to walk in on him in the throes of (fake) passion so that maybe she'll calm her boobs.

Niccolo is the name of that weird moth sorceror. Cesare has to be taken hostage for reasons I'm not following. Giulia is there and throws herself at Cesare. Cesare shuts that down hard and she goes yandere on him. She and her brother were trying to use Cesare, but she also wants one head of his or ther other. During some bonda-er, torture scenes, Giulia mentions that enemy troops are on the way to Vanozza. Cesare is about to bust out full grimdark mode, but Chiaro and Tagio and Niccolo cut his way out instead.

Cesare's pretty banged up from all the bo- torture, but there's no time to heal we gotta go save mom! We do not quite make it in time, but boy is Cesare sure a guy whose mother you don't wanna rape and mortally wound. Vanozza entrusts Cesare to Chiaro's care as she expires. Later, her body disappears, and Niccolo tells Chiaro it's probably animated by some of Cesare's demons. Gratuitous artistic momboob occurs.

The French army is here! Cesare talks King Charles out of deposing Pope Dad, despite Rovere's best efforts to keep him on track. However Cesare is now their hostage. Much like everything else in this manga so far, this too is according to keikau. Chiaro and Tagio arrange to escape with Cesare and Djem, but Djem turns heel on 'em. All he really wants is to die, though, so Cesare makes that happen. All this evil is getting to Cesare but Chiaro is still going to stay with him so he can support and/or kill him as necessary.

My rating: 5/10
I'm gettin' kinda bored, honestly. Chiaro's the only character I really like or can relate to, and the intrigue and politics aren't grabbing me for some reason. On paper this looks like a 6 or 7 kinda manga (I like intrigue, the art's pretty solid, and so far Cesare is probably the most attractive hawt gay anime boi on the shelf IMO) but it's just kinda sticking at a 5 level for some reason, and I don't get the sense it's likely to climb back up later.
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This seems like it might be an interesting sotry if it was a little less obsessed with Teh Sexy Hawtness
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I don't particularly begrudge the sexy stuff as long as it doesn't get in the way, which it hasn't particularly here. (well, a love triangle where incest is involved AND everybody likes everybody is a bit much) I just kinda find it funny how contrived fanservice can get when I'm not distracted by being into it. I have equally fanservicey girl stuff, at any rate :P
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Cantarella Vol. 4


hey I'm actually at my computer to live writeup woo

The marriage isn't going great for Sforza and Lucrezia- he slaps her, they haven't done it, he knows she's hot for oniichan, and she knows he's passing info to the enemy. Popedad is having a rough go of things with France, too. Cesare talks him into laying low for a bit and then uniting Europe against France. He'll be staying with the Baglionis for a bit, and pretty much everybody we care about winds up there for one reason or another.

The Alliance is doing well against France, but not as well as keikaku. Cesare is getting annoyed that he has to trust the war to incompetents. Cesare kisses Chiaro with no buildup. Lucrezia sees the Baglioni siblings doing it and it finally clicks that her feelings aren't sisterly, either.

Reminder: the youngest child of Alexander is married to an older princess Sancia, who steamrolls him at every turn. She's gonna be a love-to-hate type, I can tell. She wants a go at Cesare like everybody else in this dang manga. Cesare sics Chiaro on Sforza's buddies, and Chiaro is only too happy to oblige since Sforza has been spreading rumors about Lucrezia in addition to spying on them. Cesare teases Chiaro about Lucrezia AND himself.

Alexander puts Juan in charge of the Allied armies, subtly condensing power. TN: "keikaku" means "plan." Despite how many keikakus are doori, Cesare is getting tired of being the power behind the pope hat and not being able to directly do stuff. As planned, Juan makes a botch of surpressing the Orsinis.

We see Cesare come to after a loss of control. Dunno what happened there but it probably wasn't good for anybody. Only Chiaro can nurse him back to strength and sanity~ and he came when he heard Cesare call...except Cesare did not in fact call. Hm.

(Giovanni) Sforza realizes that he is now disposable, and gets the heck out of Dodge. Lucrezia is to divorce him and remarry. She confesses to Cesare, but gets a slap to the face and a thorough sisterzoning. She doesn't even have time to fully grieve this before Sforza kidnaps her. He's about to force himself on her when Michelotto/Chiaro (under Cesare's orders) makes the save. This is like the third time he's saved her in some fashion, I think. Lucrezia sees Chiaro without the mask, and asks him to take her away. He declines and she gets her to a nunnery.

Cesare and Chiaro get into a fistfight over the whole love triangle/using everybody scenario. I think I am supposed to understand that Cesare's blood is poisonous (man I would like to go back to Apothecarius Argentum) so he can't be with people. He says this like two lines after pointing out that Chiaro has some immunity. Chiaro goes off, probably to retrieve Lucrezia from the monastery. A demon in Vanozza's form tries to draw in Cesare, but he ain't havin' it. Sancia shows up, though, and it looks like he IS havin' that. Hrm.

My rating: 6/10
They've done a good job of building up the sexual tension, but not a good job on selling me on...any of the possible outlets for it. Lucrezia and Chiaro are too good for me to want them with Cesare, but it's too soon for ChiaroxLucrezia or indeed CesarexSancia, and boy I hope the momdemon is not going to be regularly trying to seduce people. Intrigue was a bit more interesting this time but I'm getting tired of Cesare constantly being ten steps ahead of everybody else. (and everybody else realizing this several times an issue)

EDIT: There's a typo in the ads that tells us to find out what happens next in volume 4
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Cantarella Vol. 5


(Top left is Pop Dadexander, and top right is Chiaro with the Michelotto mask)
(also Volpe is who I've been calling Tagio but they've been using his last name a lot more recently)

Rumors about Cesare and Sancia reach Lucrezia at the monastery, but Chiaro whisks her away to forget her troubles at the Carnival. It looks like Naples is playing right into the Pope's hands- he might be putting Juan on the throne or something. Sancia gets annoyed that Cesare is not wrapped around her finger, so she decides to use Juan to make Cesare jealous. Her poor shota husband finds out, but more relevant, Juan finally snaps when Sancia tells him he was just a tool. Juan is tired of being a joke, and of being constantly overshadowed by Cesare. Juan attacks Cesare, but Michelotto!Chiaro easily fends him off. Juan's really going full Joffrey, which is kinda funny because he has a younger brother Joffre who seems kinda like a Tommen.

Jump cut! Michelotto is under arrest under suspicion of spying for the anti-papal faction. Cesare appears genuinely surprised for once, and starts trying hard to find where Michelotto is held and under whose orders. It's Juan, who unmasks Michelotto, recognizes him as Chiaro, blames him for Djem's death, and orders his execution. He's tortured within an inch of his life, but Cesare is here to make the save, in full grimdark mode. Tagio is here too, not that he's really relevant. The mom demon almost gets Cesare, but Chiaro tries to call him back, with unclear results.

Chiaro wakes up in a bed, and despite his wounds, sets off with Tagio to rescue Cesare. The mansion where Cesare is is actually in a parallel dimension set up by the demons or something. They need Niccolo to get them in, and Niccolo needs them to free him from some rubble. Cesare now has super saiyan bird powers or something, and Chiaro suspects now is the time to actually try to stop him. Doesn't look like we're gonna see how that fight goes, but nobody is dead and Chiaro is unsure if Cesare has been taken over.

There hasn't been a good time to mention this, but a chunk of Naples is to be given to Cesare in exchange for the Pope's approval of their succession. Juan is (justifiably, for once) terrified of being around Cesare after he wiped out Juan's minions in gruesome fashion. He's supposed to accompany Cesare to the coronation ceremony, though. He hires some assassins and tells Sancia about it in an attempt to impress her.

Banquet/assassination time! Tagio locks up Chiaro, giving the reason that Chiaro attacked Cesare, but probably just wanting Cesare to be able to tap into the demon stuff more and realize more potential. Juan attempts to poison Cesare. Niccolo busts Chiaro out, and it's time for a trippy and confusing sequence. Chiaro is ensnared by the mom demon, who turns into birds. Chiaro then literally drops into the banquet, where Cesare and Vanozza are hanging out, as well as Juan and Sancia. Tagio catches Chiaro, and they start fighting over whether to let Cesare get possessed.
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Cesare leaves the banquet. Soon that poison should kick in, rendering him unable to fend off Juan's assassins! Sancia mocks Juan for not being able to do this on his own, and leaves. She comes across Cesare as he opens up a can of demonbird on the assassins, and runs away. Juan is next up to be hellmurdered, probably, but he does the ol' Ric Flair beg-for-mercy-into-suckerpunch shtick, except with a sword. Tagio drives Juan off, and Cesare is able to stand. Cesare's blood has poisoned Juan, and Cesare delivers the coup de grace. Chiaro is about to kill Cesare when he reveals he's a bit bummed about having to kill his brother. He's still in charge of his body, it seems.

Omake: the author got to go to Japan and geek out

My rating: 6/10
It's gettin' kinda weird now.
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I'm excited to celebrate the fourth with italian renaissance boyz a bit later
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puttin' the ren'ai in renaissance
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Cantarella Vol. 6


Turns out that Cesare absorbed the demons so he could keep control. That will kill him, but it's preferable to letting the demons control his body. Or something. He rips off his new wings and collapses. Also turns out that Juan isn't quite dead yet, and he gets a hit in on Chiaro. Chiaro absconds, I guess so he gets the blame for Juan's death instead of Cesare? (Tagio Della) Volpe cuts down some servants for no apparent reason.

Juan's absence is noted (he WAS supposed to be going to Naples today) and the search party nearly finds Chiaro, driving him into Lucrezia's monastery. He's close to death and a wanted man, but she hides him to nurse him back to health. Time for Chiaro backstory! A priest was kind to him despite knowing his family lineage of assassins. That priest's family was killed by Chiaro's dad, and the priest tried to kill Chiaro before he could become an assassin. The priest viewed it as a mercy, but Chiaro killed him in self defense. Nice happy stuff. Lucrezia and her friend Pantacilia refuse to let Chiaro leave in his wounded and wanted condition.

Cesare is getting pretty antsy with Chiaro gone. Niccolo shows up, confirms that Chiaro is alive and in hiding, says some other vague stuff, and gives his last name: Machiavelli. Did you know that guy was a wizard who could turn into a moth? Now you do. Popedad is pretty rattled by the loss of his son, and Demon!Mom shows up to comfort him, with Cesare in the background. Not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be getting from this sequence, but hey the investigation into Juan's murder is called off.

Lucrezia isn't doing so hot. She had thought maybe half-naked beat-up Chiaro would be a good opportunity to move on from the whole incest thing, but her feelings were still very much there when she saw Cesare at Juan's funeral. It is heavily implied that Chiaro and Lucrezia do it anyway.

Volpe confronts Cesare about Chiaro. Without Chiaro there, he is fighting a losing battle for control over his body, and his hand has transformed already. Speaking of whom, we confirm that this was Lucrezia's first time. We're about to go for round two when Pantacilia meets "Il Perotto" Pedro Calderon, the liason from the Vatican or something. He seems to have spied on round three, but he's also in charge of secret communications between Lucrezia and Popedad. Her divorce is coming along and suitors are lining up, after all. Pantacilia sends Chiaro away before Pedro's snooping around gets everybody in trouble. He keeps having sinister moments.

Sancia is throwing a tantrum because she has to go to Naples and Cesare will be there, as well as her younger brother Alfonso, who looks about ten years older than her. She passes out immediately upon seeing Cesare. He orders her not to tell anybody about seeing him hellmurder people, under threat of rape. He breaks down crying and there's an awkward dubcon cuddling scene. Alfonso is rumored to be the top pick for Lucrezia's hand, but he doesn't seem to be super ambitious. Federico is crowned King of Naples. I dunno this guy, but Cesare starts ominously pointing out to him how many people would love to have Naples.
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Cesare wants a chat with Alfonso, but they are interrupted first by a mysterious arrow and then by the appearance of Sancia. Alfonso CHUCKS HIS SWORD THROUGH THE FLEEING ASSASSIN'S BACK but Sancia doesn't seem to appreciate this much. Alfonso asks whether Cesare would prefer Sancia or some other Carlotta person. Cesare says he'd rather have Alfonso, possibly for political reasons. Alfonso doesn't swing that way, so that's a twist. Alfonso accepts the offer (of Lucrezia? I think?) much to Sancia's irritation.

Cesare has an attack. His whole arm is messed up now, so he tries to chop it off. Volpe ties him up shirtless on the bed instead and says some stuff about light and darkness. Exactly one of you (two?) people reading this will get the reference I think, but they've got a real Reinhard/Kircheis/Oberstein thing going with Cesare/Chiaro/Volpe.

Pedro is blackmailing Lucrezia with the Chiaro thing, but to what end I'm not sure. Popedad has figured out that Demon Vanozza is not the real deal. Lucrezia is to go get her divorce finalized, and Chiaro wants to go to Rome.

There's an ad in the back for a "poison poetry contest." "Tell the world how you feel when you look into his eyes" for the chance to win an original drawing from the author. As cheesy as that presentation is, that's a kinda neat contest idea!

Rating: 6/10
The new characters have my interest, but there are several points where I wasn't quite able to follow what was happening, or why.
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It is starting to get a little too convoluted but still seems interesting enough.
---

Cantarella Vol. 7


dangit I had 80% of this written up live but lost it because I'm dum

This is Jealousy: The Issue. Volpe is jealous that he can't be Chiaro for Cesare. Cesare is jealous of Lucrezia's relationship with Chiaro. Lucrezia is jealous that men don't have to be forced into political marriage. Chiaro is not quite sure what to do with his relationship with Lucrezia and loyalty to Cesare.

This is also Pedro: The Issue. Pedro blackmails Lucrezia over the Chiaro thing, and nearly rapes her before Chiaro makes the save. Pedro tips Cesare off, and he finds Lucrezia and Chiaro together. The love triangle....EXPLODES, to borrow UCA terminology. Lucrezia is sent back to be put under house arrest until she can be married off to Alfonso. Cesare kisses Chiaro and then says never to show his face again, at least in part because it's gonna get around that he was boinking the pope's semi-married daughter.

Cesare orders Volpe to cut off the corrupted arm during another attack. Cesare can regenerate that, so that's fun. Volpe still doesn't have Chiaro's boyfriend powers, so that's sad for him.

Pedro's next gr8 idea is to blackmail Cesare over Juan's death. That ends with Pedro buried alive in a jail cell, but Demon Vanozza makes some sort of pact with him, granting him power and escape. Pedro escapes, cuts down a buncha guards, nearly kills Lucrezia and Chiaro, and DOES kill Pantacilia. Somehow Volpe and some mooks manage to capture him. Cesare finds out that Lucrezia and Chiaro have eloped, and takes it poorly. He orders Lucrezia returned, over Chiaro's dead body if need be.

Overall: 7/10
We're finally making progress (in a direction I like) on the big love triangle thing, and it's not what I expected. Pedro was a kinda fun short-term villain, and things were as straightforward this time as they were convoluted the last.

...Man, Pedro JUST got Juan's slot on the character introductions page. Wonder who gets it next? Pantacilia is gone now too so we're kinda running out of even secondary characters lol. I'll say Niccolo and Alfonso.
---

I am so invested
---

Cantarella, Vol. 8
Today's BGM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmio3Ze8pTU" data-time="


Cesare is barely standing with Chiaro gone. Volpe rides off to....kill Chiaro out of jealously, duh. Demon Panozza makes another run at seducing Cesare, and it's working better this time. She kills (or at least appears to kill) King Charles of France for him. 99 problems, but an invasion is no longer one. At least not under that particular monarch.

Chiaro's a bit short on funding, especially relative to what Lucrezia's used to, so he steps out to do some street fighting. Alfonso sees this, and wants to hire him. They don't seem to know each other. Volpe also tracks Chiaro down via the defeated street fighter guy. Lucrezia's become ill. Alfonso meets her (just kidding, he does recognize Chiaro) and tips them off that they're being chased. Lucrezia agrees to stay with Alfonso so Chiaro can get away. Wonder if either of them know they're supposed to be getting married? Volpe shoots a fleeing Chiaro. We don't see him die so I'm guessing he's gonna live. Alfonso successfully hides Lucrezia from Volpe, but his incognito cover is blown. Alfonso seems like a nice dude- he doesn't hold the Chiaro affair against Lucrezia, and has a forbidden love himself, but he DOES need to marry her for the politics. Chiaro can even come to visit after the heat on him has died down. Also he has a pet baby squirrel. Lucrezia is not quite sold, though. C'mon man.

Wounded, Chiaro sees a vision of Cesare being consumed by darkness, so that's probably not good. Volpe and friends are looping back to the inn after a tip from the innkeeper, but before Alfonso can escape with her she runs away on her own. Bandits catch her, and Chiaro saves. Lil' hurt/comfort scene with the two of 'em. Cesare might be creepin' around. Bandits attack AGAIN, with Volpe driving them off but capturing Chiaro and Lucrezia.

Volpe and (secretly) Alfonso are back in Rome. Chiaro is being held and tortured in that one prison. He's visited by some sorta escaped good side projection of Cesare, in shota form, begging him to save Cesare. Lucrezia collapses. Alfonso sneaks into the palace to have a chat with Cesare. He's still up for the marriage despite everything, but he wants Chiaro and his sword. Cesare refuses, informing Alfonso that Chiaro is Michelotto and knows too much. Rejection fills Alfonso with DETERMINATON. Cesare tells Volpe to continue the torture but not to grant Chiaro death.

Sancia checks up on Lucrezia, ostensibly on orders from Cesare because that's an A+ idea. She pries into Lucrezia's love life...but actually seems to actually care? Weird. Alfonso also checks up on Lucrezia, and tells her he'll do something about Chiaro before he and Sancia bump into each other. They have a quabble outside. Good chance that Sancia is the one Alfonso is into. If it's unrequited, does that make it better or worse? Then again Sancia seems to be against the Alfonso/Lucrezia marriage in general so who dang knows. Sancia figures out that Lucrezia is pregnant and goes to Cesare with the info. Cesare seems to think he can keep that under wraps if Sancia can keep quiet, and threatens/seduces her into doing so.
---

Alfonso busts out Chiaro. Cesare isn't bothered by this. Chiaro is in very bad shape and they're gonna need to amputate his sword arm. I guess this didn't need a new post.

My rating: 6/10
Melodramatic romance ain't really my thing and that's about all that happened this issue. Then again we're probably going from here to extra grimdark demon stuff and that is even less my thing >_>
---

update in a bit!
---

Cantarella Vol. 9

Today's BGM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC6OKIYXBxQ" data-time="

It was a long bit but WHATEVER. Cesaro shows up to Lucrezia's room, and his eyes are...off, freaking her out. He says that Chiaro is dead, that she's still marrying Alfonso, and he'll be taking responsibility for the child. Sancia stops Lucrezia from suicide (is she after something or genuinely turning face for unexplained reasons?) while Cesare wanders around looking like the next installment of Castlevania.

Chiaro has parted ways amicably with Alfonso after declining his offer and proving he's still a strong fighter. What is it with stories and lopping off swordsmen's arms, anyway? I just realized how common a thread that is in some of my fandoms. Post-sex scene with Cesare and Sancia (equal opportunity fanservice this time ) wherein they both admit this is a superficial relationship and Cesare wants to make the world "as it should be."

(Niccolo) Machiavelli finds Chiaro as he collapses. I guess Machiavelli (screw it I am going back to calling him Niccolo that's easier to type) sealed away most of his knowledge powerz. Lucrezia's son is born, and yoinked before she even gets to hold him. One of Cesare's (or Volpe's) minions is ordered to kill the baby in the woods, but backs out after seeing "the light of God shining down on the boy." Cesare puts the boy in the care of the guy (Bernard) instead of re-ordering the death- maybe he'll be useful as a Borgia some day.

Cesare informs Lucrezia that she can see the boy if she follows orders. Then he starts to rape her. Then he has a little breakdown and runs off. Michaelangelo makes a brief cameo to tell Cesare things about compassion and peace while talking about the Pieta. Niccolo has gotten Chiaro back on his feet, and says that the only way to save Cesare is to kill him. Alfonso becomes a Duke, and it's confirmed that Sancia is the one he's into. I want to like him but that's gonna make it hard.

Alfonso and Lucrezia meet officially and the situation is still that Alfonso is happy for her but does need to marry her politically. She's accepted that fate now. Also he informs her that Chiaro ain't dead. They have the wedding, and it's quite nice. Alfonso arranges for the observers to get sick to give them some privacy on the wedding night. Now they don't have to do it! Except Cesare shows up with Alfonso's sidekick tied up. Lucrezia is sent to her room with Volpe, because it's been a while since he's had a chance to make something terrible. Cesare interrogates Alfonso about Chiaro, gets a truthful answer, and gives him a nasty cut for his defiance.

Cesare gives Volpe the Michelotto mask. I don't think Cesare gets to just decide who Michelotto is, but then he's never been much for rules or propiety. Cesare resigns as Cardinal so he can do even bigger stuff.

Bonus story! It's about Alfonso and Sancia's relationship, with a parallel made between a misshapen pearl and Sancia. He always wanted to protect her when they were kids. They got a bit older and she fell for a musician named Gabriello, but she realized he was plotting to kill her step-sister Isabella. She confronts him but they just wind up kissing. She keeps quiet but Alfonso also finds out, and ruins the plot. Gabriello takes Sancia hostage, but Alfonso slows him down enough to get caught. (and Gabriello isn't willing to use kids as shields) He loses an eye in the process (so that's why he has that hair swoop!) and Gabriello dies painfully in prison. Sancia becomes kinda loose and tsundere, and Alfonso realizes he's into her. We still haven't really figured her exact feelings towards him. 's complicated.

Bonus: Concept art!

My rating: 5/10
I like getting side story for characters I like, but it kinda hurt them in my eyes actually. Just not into the incest, or all the near-rape in the main story. 2dark4me, but well executed.
---

Cantarella Vol. 10

Today's BGM: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4C766EC3E2064D9B

Cesare is now engaged to Carlotta, the daughter of the King of Naples, and she ain't happy about it. Looks like another France/Naples fight is brewing, and Cesare is waiting to see how that goes. Cesare ALSO proposes to Carlotta's significantly more willing sister Charlotte. Lucrezia figures out she is the wedge between Cesare and Chiaro, whoops. Alfonso is having trouble finding him. Cesare marries Charlotte offscreen, no big. Now he's part of the French royal family and a duke of something and some other titles.

Niccolo (now a Florentine diplomat) brings Chiaro to Forli to back him up in negotiations with Caterina Sforza, who's apparently very scary. Cesare is aiding a French attack on Milan. Caterina's son Ottaviano is a dumb mercenary leader (his incompetence is why we're trying to cut Caterina's wages) and picks a fight with Niccolo and Chiaro. Mercenary general Nardi smoothes things over before Ottaviano gets himself killed. Nardi seems important, and offers Chiaro a job. Chiaro finds himself interested in mercenary work.

Finally time to speak with Caterina. She is going to RAISE the prices because mercs are in demand these days. Meanwhile Chiaro is attacked by six mercs, and KOs them offscreen with the flat of the blade, lol. The offer then comes that she'll cut them a deal if Chiaro joins them. Chiaro accepts for the lulz. Niccolo sees him off with advice that there is one way to save Cesare without killing him.

Things ain't looking too good in Alfonsoland. Their allies are bailing and Cesare is coming. They should probably be getting out of Dodge, but Sancia is more worried for Alfonso than Alfonso is worried for Alfonso. Alfonso confesses and she tells him to survive instead of really responding directly. Alfonso and Lucrezia have a little husband/wife incest support group, and then Alfonso decides to go after Lucrezia takes responsibility for protecting Sancia. Not sure why anybody expects protection to be a thing if Cesare wants somebody dead. >_>

Wife is home soon so I suspect this will resume shortly and/or tomorrow

OH BUT BEFORE THAT I think this is the last Cantarella we have (maybe the last one period? We'll find out I guess) so that means it's once again time for

Bonus question: What's the anime/manga that has the biggest discrepancy for you between objective and subjective opinion?
Hint for next: Champion of Save Tom's Manga!
---

This story seems interesting to me I like the setting but I get the impression I'd be hyped and then let down by all the relationship based stuff.
---

The mercs try to haze Chiaro. He's about to talk about how they're the ones locked up in here with him when Nardi breaks it up. Chiaro bonds with a shota-lookin' kid named Mario. Nardi picks Chiaro out for a special mission.

Milan is probably just gonna roll over for France. We meet Leonardo Da Vinci, who identifies Cesare as not entirely human, and then we try to draw some parallels between Cesare and Jesus. They're both lonely, or something.

Alfonso sends a letter summoning Lucrezia to him, as pretense for...something. This eventually results in tension between Popedad and Sancia, and Sancia going instead with knowledge that Chiaro is alive. Then Alfonso sneaks in and kisses Sancia.

Shota!Cesare begs Chiaro to stop Cesare. He's fading away.

And then it went on a four-year hiatus and the last two volumes never made it over here. /shrug

Omake: The author talks about her trip to my local con! Wifebolo was probably even there that year. The poetry contest is completed- winning poem seems pretty decent and is about Chiaro and Cesare so that's the artwork they get as a prize.

My rating: 5/10
Was another issue where I wasn't having an easy time following who was doing what where or why.

Overall rating: 6/10
This was pretty well executed, I think, just completely outside my strike zone. Artwork's good, story had me somewhat interested even though it wasn't my thing, and I have no doubt that there are plenty of folks who would find the romance and fanservice bits nice and steamy. If you like renaissance Italy, or dark and troubled purty anime bois, or soap opera plots with a side of international politics, or gaybaiting, or incest, then by all means go for it. If not....eh, it's still okay I guess.
---

5tarscream posted...

This story seems interesting to me I like the setting but I get the impression I'd be hyped and then let down by all the relationship based stuff.

This is kinda my reaction honestly- I got hyped for INTRIGUE and then we just kinda detoured hard into romance, and not the kinda romance I care for either.
---

Shame. Ah well NEEEEEEEEXXT.
---

NXT
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Cardcaptor Sakura, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Genre: Mahou shoujo
By: CLAMP
Whose fault: Tombolo

Today's BGM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gksh02YLgh0" data-time="

Goin' kinda far back into the vault for this one, but it's one of the few from back then that I expect to like BETTER now. I have stopped pretending I am above cute girly things. >_> Unless I am mistaken, this was indeed the winner of the Save My I ran with my manga collection here many, many years ago. I should try that again.

THIS EDITION COMES WITH A BOOKMARK that I left attached apparently.

We get an in media res start, sorta, as Sakura Kinomoto does some magical girl things and catches a monster in a card. I forgot how much I like CLAMP artwork. This is actually a tape that Sakura and her mascot character buddy Cerebrus the Great (...or Kero-chan....hey I get why he dislikes that nickname now!) are reviewing. We have to return the tape to Tomoyo Daidouji, who recorded it, and we're late for school because this is the first installment of a mahou shoujo series. Sakura's in fourth grade, and she has an attractive high school brother Toya, an attractive dad Fujitaka, an attractive dead mom, and a crush on her brother's friend Yukiko Tsukishiro. We actually meet Tomoyo, who appears to be a fangirl in addition to a close friend.

Origin story time! Kero-chan pops out of a book in Sakura's dad's library, and introduces himself as a Creature of the Seal. Only somebody with magic can open that book, and it's missing all the cards that are supposed to be inside. The Clow Cards were created by Clow Reed, and are powerful and can come to life and wreak havoc. They also can be summoned once they are turned back into cards, I guess. A contract is formed and Sakura becomes a Card Captor! dun dun dunnnnnnn

We have three Clow Cards so far. (we've seen "Windy" used to capture "Jump," and mentioned "Firey." Good names.) Tomoyo is the only person who knows, and she is in charge of making costumes, videotaping everything, being rich, and fangirling. She seems to like Toya. A monster shows up briefly during PE! Nobody else can see it. We come back to the school at night (Tomoyo is dropped off by her troupe of female bodyguards) and confirm that Fly is here. (so is Jump just gonna be never used again after this?) It's strong against the wind element, so trying to catch it with Windy doesn't work out.

Different monsters (should I be calling them cards? Clow? IDK) have different personalities- Windy and Wood joined without really fighting, and Jump was too dumb to be much challenge. Fly SHOULD be somewhat cooperative, and if we had more cards we could do divination with them and maybe find out what's up. Also Sakura writes her name on the cards so they'll listen to her even if they aren't in the book.

....actually I'm out of time. I'll hopefully wrap this one up tonight, and then tomorrow is gonna be a day off.
---

aaaand we're back!

Sakura falls asleep wondering why Fly is lashing out, and dreams about nursing an injured Fly. Morning comes, and we stop to see Yukito-san~~~~~ being cool with archery. MONSTER ATTACK. It's Fly, and it's indeed hurt! Sakura uses Wood and Jump to reach it and...heals it somehow, I guess. Card GET. It's a big deal that she has prophetic dreams like that.

Unrelated: Sakura's catchphrase is "Hoe" when she's surprised. I know it's pronounced differently but it still amuses me.

There are rumors of ghosts in the pool, and something grabs and nearly drowns Sakura and a classmate. We figure out that it's probably Watery, but Sakura isn't really equipped to handle that one. Yukito asks Sakura to get shaved ice with him, and that sparks an idea! Using our fancy new CELLULAR PHONE to coordinate with Tomoyo, we....I'm not entirely sure what we do, but it sure is pretty. Watery is frozen and captured.

Unrelated: Kero has some sort of cool powerful form but staying in mascot form conserves his magical energy. Also he speaks Osaka dialect, which is always fun to see localized.

There are rumors of ghosts in the park, and something spooks Sakura and friends on the way home from Tomoyo's choir practice. Backstory! Dad was 25 when he married Nadeshiko, Sakura's mom who was 16 and a model. Creepy. Nadeshiko died when Sakura was 3. Tomoyo asks Sakura to the park via FAX because there's a festival. Next day, all four of the main characters show up to the festival (kimono!) and MONSTER ATTACK. Like before, everybody who sees it sees something different. Sakura doesn't do well with ghosts and monsters and stuff (cards are okay because she understands them sorta!) but suits up anyway. Side note: Tomoyo makes her outfits so she has a different getup every time. Not sure how changing works but who cares. Tomoyo provides Sakura with a COMBINATION CELL PHONE AND PAGER in case she is underwater and can't speak. Watery gives Sakura an air bubble so she can go in the lake to find....her mom?

"Mom" almost drowns Sakura and Yukito makes the save! Turns out that Toya can see ghosts and Sakura can feel them, which is why she gets freaked out by 'em. Dead mom....devoted dad...big bro can see ghosts and little sis has some similar powers....but where's Rukia then? Anyway, Toya hasn't seen mom for a few years. Sakura is resolved to fix this thing even though it's scary. Round 3: we all see the same thing this time....because we were all thinking about Sakura's mom ahead of time, and this is Illusion. Card GET. Also Momghost pays a visit to check up on things.

My rating: 9/10
Dang, it's cute. Action scenes are kinda short and hard to follow, is my only gripe so far.
---

Should be good for this afternoon
---

or I could get called in to work early

50/50 shot today
---

Or as Schrodinger would say. 100/100
---

Cardcaptor Sakura, Vol. 2 (of 3)

Today's BGM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efaWNb799AM" data-time="

Been a long week (for summer, at least) but here we are finally!

It's field day today! Probably the same thing as a sports festival? Plenty of opportunities for Tomoyo to fangirl over Sakura and Sakura to fangirl over Yukito. This also means that parents will come! Sakura's dad is a bit late, looking like he was delayed by moonlighting in a yaoi. We've never met Tomoyo's super important and wealthy mom Sonomi until now, but she seems nice. She and Sakura's dad instantly recognize her, and she has a huge grudge against him for marrying her and letting her die. I was in the process of making a genetic lesbianism joke but turns out that Sonomi was Nadeshiko's cousin. Hm, this printing was 2003, so I'm not sure we're out of the """"cousins"""" era of localization actually.

Sure are a lot of flowers in the air tod-MONSTER ATTACK. The parents are too competitive to give up their race even when the flowers get chest-high on them >_> Sakura Flies up to the roof where a particularly pretty flower spirit is having a little party. She doesn't mean any harm, so after a little dance we get equipped with Flower.

The parents are having a Talk behind the school. She's mad she could never beat him, or stay mad at him for Nadeshiko's sake. Nadeshiko loved Sonomi, but "not the way [Sonomi] wanted her to." *sadly resets the "days since last incest angle" board to 0* Sakura uses Flower to help them bond. Sakura and Tomoyo love each other just like their moms did. JUST like their moms did. *thinks about it, then resets the "pages since last incest angle" board to 0*

Christmas is coming and that's also Yukito's birthday, so let's talk to Rika-chan about presents since she has an older boyfriend. Already don't like where this is going! The teacher comes in and specifically makes eye contact with her. This is fourth grade. *makes a "days since last pedophilia angle" board*

Syaoran Li is a new transfer student and he sure doesn't like Sakura. He calls her out and demands she hand over the Clow Cards because he's more competent. We're about to fight, but Toya and Tomoyo show up for the save. Toya and Syaoran looks to be a good fight, but Yukito shows up with pork buns. Syaoran gets embarrassed and runs away. Kay? We ask Kero for some info, and he tells us that Syaoran must be from the Li family, and is thus related to the mother of Clow Reed. (who made the Cards) Kero reassures Sakura that she is the rightful owner of the cards.

Rika shows up with dead eyes. POSSESSED GIRL+MONSTER ATTACK. Rika's under the influence of Sword, which makes her a master fencer but her power is tied to her will. Sakura ain't doing great, but Syaoran makes the save. He's about to simply kill Rika, but Sakura won't let him, instead using Illusion to show her an image of the teacher guy. She gets equipped with Sword off the distraction, but Syaoran is not impressed. Yukito shows up and Syaoran runs away embarrassed again. I'mma just assume everybody likes everybody in this manga.

Terada-sensei proposes to Rika.
---

Sakura finally gets to give Yukito his birthday present, prompting Syaoran to give one as well.

Sakura gets equipped with Lightning, as we found out in a sleepover where she shares a bed with Tomoyo. I was more into this ship before we found out they are second cousins, but it'll sail with or without me I imagine. That or she's gonna get with a high schooler in elementary school. Or this new guy who's a jerk to everybody except his crush.

Speaking of Syaoran, we have to team up to capture Shadow, but he still doesn't like us. Toyo and Yukito are having a moment...
Tom Bombadil posted...

I'mma just assume everybody likes everybody in this manga.

...when Yukito and Syaoran (should I be calling him Li? Everybody in the manga is) show up with chocolates for Yukito because it's Valentine's. Also Tomoyo has chocolate for Sakura. Also some lady shows up.

My rating: 6/10
Less pedophilia and incest and love dodecahedrons and more cute kids fighting for justice, plz
---

Cardcaptor Sakura, Vol. 3 (of 3)

Today's BGM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzT7rruSRw4" data-time="

I dunno if I'm ready for this one or not. Last one kinda damaged my opinion of the series. :\

Sakura comes home while Yukito-sannnnn is giving Toya a haircut, and excitedly accepts the offer to get one as well. The creepy lady from the end of last issue is still around. A haircut from Yukito? This calls for a BADMINTON DUEL with Li, which goes to a time limit draw. Tomoyo wants to cut Sakura's hair next time. Sakura has been spotted running into stuff and knocking it over, even though she has an alibi. We now have enough Clow Cards to do some fortune telling, so we divine that the remaining cards are aware of Sakura and are going to respond in various fashions. Specifically, this "other Sakura" is targeting Toya.

Sakura is trying to find Toyo and the card of the week, but there's a lot going on in this park or something. Luckily we bump into Li who is previously established as having a kinda Clow Card Radar with some fancy Chinese name. Sakura Alter lures Toya into the forest and off a cliff. He actually knows it's not Sakura but wants to help anyway. He passes out right before Sakura and Li show up. This is apparently a special card- you have to reveal its identity instead of beating it up or befriending it. It's Mirror, who apologizes before shwooping back into a card.

We go over to Tomoyo's place, which apparently has not happened before somehow. She has a wall-sized TV to watch her recordings of Sakura's heroic exploits. This is crossing into stalker territory even if you aren't fazed by the distant cousins thing! Random observation: Yukito and Sakura's dad look pretty similar. Might be limitations of the artstyle, might be FORESHADOWING. Anyway, the point of having Sakura over (Sonomi is a fan) was that there's a treasure box that Tomoyo can't open because of what turns out to be Shield. It succumbs after being whacked by Sword. (nobody said it was a particularly GOOD Shield, I guess) Inside the box is Nadeshiko's wedding bouquet! is anybody besides Sakura NOT a giant creeper Also, the eraser Sakura gave Tomoyo when they met.

Rumor of the day: you can get love charms at the shrine. Sakura is all about that life, but bumps into the lady, who says she won't be able to get what she wanted today. And lo, the shrine was closed. Also the math teacher went on leave, so the lady is subbing for him. Her name is Maho Mizkui. Only took 90% of a volume to get a name! Li senses great power from her, but everybody else just calls her pretty a lot. She and Toya seem to know each other.

Random observation: Yukito and Toya bring each other food a lot. Or maybe it's just Yukito. Hm. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Li try the shrine again...NOW THERE'S A MAZE OH NO

My rating: 8/10
There's less creep in this one I guess, and some good character moments for Toya.

Overall rating: 8/10
This is a series I could really see myself going for pretty hard, but the age gaps and incest are preeeeetty offputting. I'll reserve firm judgment until I've seen more...but unfortunately that may or may not ever happen.

Discussion question: Incest?
Hint for next: One volume prevails.
---

achievement unlocked: went to barnes and noble and DIDN'T buy anything. I did manage to spoil myself on CCS trying to figure out if what they had was a sequel or rerelease, though! Back cover: Sakura's sweetheart Syaoran Li

maybe something tonight, maybe not
---

Should be an update tonight

should
---

Case Closed, Vol. 3

Genre: Mystery
By: Gosho Aoyama
Whose fault: ...I don't know, actually
forgot to put on BGM but it probably would've been Umineko

Welp didn't make it yesterday but an early start today. I've been curious about this one for a while- it's one of our friends' favorite, and I do like me some mystery. I have no idea how we came to possess only vol. 3, but it looks like it was used.

Jimmy Kudo, ace detective, has been turned into a first grader. He goes by Conan Edogawa now. There's an inventor and a neighbor who know his secret. That's all the context I have for you GO.

Conan, probably the girl from the intro blurb, and her dad are all on somebody else's charter ship because they screwed up their travel plans. The ship is supposed to be used exclusively by the Hatamoto family. There's Natsue, who just got married and is sad that her parents weren't alive to see it, Takeshi her husband, Gozo the cranky grandpa, and a bunch more probably. I have a feeling I am not going to be able to do justice to the mystery elements here, so I am gonna cop out and summarize it as: there are a whole lot of Hatamoto running around, and Gozo is gonna do something dumb with all the money when the cruise lands so a lot of us have motive. Gettin' pretty Umineko right off the bat.

And in fact we kick things off with a closed room murder. I'm gonna go pretty light on the summary here, sorry. Gonna be too much detail and part of the fun of mystery is trying to figure it out yourself, y'know? Looks like the dad of the girl (Rachel) is also a detective, but the kind where he's always one step behind the hero. Also looks like Conan and Rachel are a thing, or at least were before he became a shota. Pretty soon we have another murder, a disappearance, and a non-lethal stabbing. I got the culprit right! :D Conan used a voice modulator to make it look like the dad was doing the whole "the culprit is you!" shtick, lol.

Doesn't actually look like Rachel is in on the Conan is a grownup in a kid body thing. That's rough. She figures it out over the course of the next story, though, and also realizes she talked a lot about liking Jimmy to Conan. whoops. Anyway, there's a shorter mystery about a doctor who is receiving mysterious presents and money and flowers and stuff, and the inventor guy uses a voice modulator to restore Conan's cover with Rachel.

We get a few 4-koma as well. :D

My rating: 9/10
This is up my alley! Cute art and mystery that appears to be roughly on my difficulty level. I'll keep an eye out for more now that I have confirmed I like it :D

Discussion question: What's your favorite mystery? Let's expand this one to any medium since I'm not aware of much in the anime/manga realm.
Hint for next: Yuu Watase
---

You can't start at 3. What is this?

*RAGE*
---

I suspect that was the only one they had at half price books or something :(
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Ceres Celestial Legend, Vol. 1

Genres, according to the back cover: Horror, Comedy, Romance
By: Yuu Watase
Whose fault: Wifebolo, probably
BGM unrelated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBXaVR73rMQ" data-time="

Aya Mikage is a spunky 16-year-old who just got an ominous fortunetelling that was pretty hokey but will no doubt actually come true very soon. She has a twin brother Aki, an as-yet-unidentified friend, and no romantic history. She falls off a bridge chasing a pursesnatcher, gently floats to the ground unharmed in the middle of the road, and gets tackled out of the way of a car by Definitely Not Tamahome In Sunglasses. Dudebro disappears.

Aya is kinda perked up by something that interesting happening, while Aki has a deepened appreciation for the status quo. Tomorrow is their 16th birthday, but we have to cancel our plans to go see grandpa. Also, a picture taken during the opening scene shows a weird mist around Aya. We arrive to grandpa's, with Aya in a shirt that says "stick" in cursive. Oddly, the whole family is here and looking very formal. Dudebro from the middle of the road is summoned to bring them a box. It has a severed hand, and the twins are triggered. Aya blows up her clothes and the hand, while Aki explodes blood. The family aren't particularly put off by this. Aki will live, and Aya will die, because the family faces disaster as long as she's alive. Aki is taken off somewhere while we start choking Aya out.

Jump cut! Some guy is sent by his sister(?) to pick up somebody.

Jump cut! Aya's gone, and the people in the room with her are unconscious. Aya comes to hiding up a tree. She's found by Mysterious Dudebro, who hops up to join her despite having some sort of obligation to the family that is now looking for her. She starts freaking out and he shuts her up with a kiss. I'm told that's a really bad idea outside the realm of romantic comedy. The family found her and attacks! Some dude (the same one from the other scene?) takes the bad guy out with the power of accupuncture or something. Aya jumps down to him, floats again, and says bye to Dudebro.

Accupuncture Guy is named Yuhi. He and his sister(?) take Aya to her house against her will. Aya's a Heavenly Maiden and the Mikages are gonna keep coming after her. Yuhi sees Aya in the bath and I'm pretty sure his shirt says "Accupuncture." Sister(?) is Suzumi. Aya will be living with them now, much to Aya and Yuhi's chargrin. Suzumi calls Yuhi her brother, although the character blurbs at the beginning call him her brother-in-law. Mysterious.

There once was a fisherman who stole the robe from a bathing angel. She couldn't get back to heaven without it, so she married him and had his kids until she was able to get the robe back and adios. Aya is descended from this angel. The Mikage bloodline is mostly watered down by now, but sometimes bits come through in girls. Suzumi has this too, but can only manage some very weak psychokinesis.

Aya goes back to her place because that's a super idea. She bumps into Dudebro, who finally introduces himself as Toya. Oh, and the Mikages. They have made it policy to test for powers at 16 and eliminate anybody with them, ever since a 16-year-old nearly wiped them out. Dad takes a bullet for Aya and tells her to live and help Aki. Toya puts a gun to Aya's head and asks why she came back.
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Forgot to mention: Aki has powers that can HELP the family so I guess they're just gonna keep him in a room.

Toya is a bodyguard in the Mikage's hire. BTW Aya has had some severe dokis for him this whole time. Aki is awake but trapped. Aya Does A Thing. Suzumi and Yuhi and their weird grandma(?) are in pursuit when Suzumi senses Aya Doing A Thing. Aya explodes the house or something, and they are able to get her out of there as she passes out. Toya probably could've stopped them if he'd wanted- also the little angel explosion thing didn't do anything to him.

Aya walks in on Yuhi in the bath. I'm amused by the reversal. Suzumi assigns Yuhi to stay with Aya at all times as her bodyguard. She also gives him a magical headband that can only be removed by a Heavenly Maiden and induces pain if he disobeys one. Aya is transferring to Yuhi's school, which will somehow help her research Heavenly Maidens. Kagami Mikage assigns Toya as Aki's bodyguard, and also wants Toya to find Aya. Grandpa and probably most of the family want her dead, but this guy wants to study her. It is mentioned for the second or third time that Toya "can't refuse" orders. Kagami tells Mom that Aya killed Dad.

Toya pops by to see Aya at school. He's an amnesiac, remembering only his name and "Mikage." The Mikages promised him his memories back, and next time she sees him, they'll be enemies. He seems to be into her too.

Aya goes home again because that's still a super idea. Home seems very unexploded so maybe last time it was Grandpa's place? Mom's here, thanks to Kagami and against Grandpa's wishes. They cook dinner together until Mom confronts her over killing Dad. She's going for a murder-suicide by knife. Kagami fills Aki in on the powers thing. The hand was mummified, and Kagami's wounds probably reflect the death of his ancestor. Toya, Yuhi, and Weird Grandma show up for the save, but Aya Does A Thing. Ceres is now here and Aya has gone to sleep.

And that's all we have.

My rating: 7/10
Man it's like Fushigi Yuugi all over again. That one's a tad more up my alley though, so I think it's the one I'd be more likely to pursue and enjoy.

Discussion Question: What's your favorite Japanese folktale? Or non-Japanese if that's too hard.
Hint for Next: I don't know when this came out, but it LOOKS more recent than 90% of our collection.
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not lookin great for today

ran right out of attention span
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A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 1

Genres: Sci-fi/fantasy, comedy? Something like that.
Story: Kazuma Kamachi
Art: Motoi Fuyukawa
Whose fault: Mine
Today's BGM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shLG-cw8RDA" data-time="

I have been curious about this one for a while, which is possibly how I somehow acquired two copies of the first volume. And none of the others, huzzah. First thing we see is a small girl taking down some kinda criminal. My kinda thing, probably. Her name is Kuroko, and she's with "Judgment," which appears to be some sort of law enforcement system involving robots? This is an area of Tokyo designed for and inhabited primarily by students, where they train psychic powers. They appear to be intrinsic but trainable. Kuroko's buddy Misaka Mikoto has trained to such levels of badassery that they have to have her shoot into the pool to test her.

We waste no time in getting to a very ecchi shower scene, complete with traditional boob grabbin' and comparin'. Kuroko can teleport, I guess. Judgment is supposed to handle crime and stuff, but as one of only seven Level 5 psychicky people, Mikoto prefers to cut out the middle man and just handle stuff on her own. Kuroko grabbed Mikoto's naked boobs three pages ago but is still able to tease her about food sharing being an indirect kiss. Kuroko's fellow Judgment member Uiharu Kazari shows up, suffering from a cold. She's the one I always see with a flower crown.

Anyway, BANK ROBBERY. Kuroko and Misaka get to show off their powers (Kuroko can also teleport objects and has a reputation for sadism, while Mikoto's "railgun" powers are electrical. Mikoto gets mistaken for a member of Judgment and gets dragged along by a senpai to find some little girl's bag.

Mikoto runs into a guy she knows. Flashback time! He's a nice dude who helped her out of a jam with some gang types. (or at least, it LOOKED like a jam for somebody who didn't have super special level five zappy powerz) He appears to be immune to her zappiness, and says he tested at Level 0, which apparently isn't a thing. She wants more info, but ever since then, he's been avoiding her. Still, Mikoto wants a rematch, whether out of competitiveness or a crush I can't tell. She has a new move where she can control iron in sand (magnets? how do they work?) but he is able to simply dispel the attacks and fizzle a touch attack zap.

Character profile informs me that her "railgun" move involves charging up an arcade token and shooting it. Neat.

A couple of times we've mentioned "graviton bombs" and now it's time to get serious about that. Somebody has the power to make aluminum explode, and has been exploding stuff seemingly at random around the city. Unfortunately, the one registered Synchrotron with that much power has been in a coma since before the bombings started.

Did I say we were getting serious? Some new character shows up and flips Uiharu's skirt twice in two pages. She's got one-a-them new fangled mp3 players that can download songs. Now I'm confused because we've been presenting this place as slightly futuristic but we're reacting like an iPod is new tech. Uiharu and Skirtflip McGee (Saten Ruiko) are going out shopping when they bump into Mikoto. I guess they go to a different school than her, because Uiharu has to interest her and Saten goes into fangirl mode.
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Character profile informs me that the no-sell guy is Kamijou Touma. He's the main character of A Certain Magical Index, so I guess that's the one you're supposed to start on first? He's unlucky and it's specifically his right hand that does the thing.

Random observation: Misaka Mikoto is localized as Mikoto Misaka on the cover, but not in the actual body. I'mma assume Mikoto is her given name, but dang name order is hard enough on my brain when a series is internally consistent about it!

We've seen a guy get bullied a couple times, getting increasingly mad at Judgment's inability to fix it. We see him probably making the bombs but hey just kidding we have pajamas to shop for. Mikoto bumps into Touma and finds out that the girl with the bag is his little sister. Explodeyman is doing his thing at the store where we're shopping! We evacuate the place, but his real target is Judgment! He uses the little sister to give the bomb to Uiharu, and Mikoto botches her Railgun trying to knock it away. But she's right behind him during his victory monologue. Doesn't go real great for him. Uiharu's fine, and credits Mikoto for that, but it was actually Touma who soaked the bomb.

We've heard rumors before about a "level upper" that is a shortcut to boosted powers, and that may fit with the bomb guy since he was only level 2. There have been a couple incidents fitting that pattern of powers beyond somebody's apparent capabilities, too. Time to send Mikoto undercover to investigate! Kuroko is as aware as I am of how bad an idea that is, but there's not much choice. Touma shows up and unwittingly messes up the sting operation. She zaps him so hard it causes a blackout.

Bombguy still doesn't have a name, and now he's in a coma. There's been a rash of unexplained comas like that recently. Kiyama Harumi is (I assume) a neurologist called in to figure this out. She seems important, but we're running out of pages on which she can do something.

Bonus: a preview of Toradora. That's another one that looks like something I'd like, so I eventually picked up the first volume, but I never read it.

My rating: 8/10
Cute girls, special powers, criminal investigations, decent art...relevant to my interests. Bit fanservicey for my tastes, but if you're gonna do fanservice I'd rather it just be flagrant like this is, rather than having a super serious story SUDDENLY BOOBS like, say, Afterschool Charisma. On second thought though, I think it said they were middle schoolers, in which case, ew. I might investigate further, I might not.

Bonus question: Favorite sequel or spinoff?
Hint for next: Cat :3
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