More Manga

Today will be another update on what I've been reading and found worthy of featuring.
I actually started Game of Thrones, but a friend said he wanted to watch it with me. I paused to let him catch up but we haven't actually gotten together to watch so :P This happened with New Girl too. :P

As usual, some SPOILERS AWAIT.

Gakuen Alice: This is a super-cute shoujo that follows Mikan Sakura and her adventures at Alice Academy. Here, children from elementary to high school with powers called "alices" are torn from their families and secluded on the campus. When Mikan's best frient Hotaru is taken there, Mikan goes on an expedition to contact her and ends up trapped at the academy too. Despite this, she makes the best of it and cheerfully befriends her class, even the loner Hyuuga Natsume and his friend Nogi Ruka.

I really loved all the characters, and I like that although there are clear antagonists, they have their own motives and backstories that are given enough page time.

(SPOILERS HERE):
I was a little miffed that Yuka (Mikan's mom) and Persona switched sides as a part of their redemption. Nonetheless, I was really touched by the love-heals-all-wounds theme. I'm not usually a fan of this, but Gakuen Alice does it really well.

Also, Natsume and Mikan...are the cutest couple ever. They're like Sakura x Syaoran level cuteness, although Natsume is more perverted.

Roommates: Lighthearted college dating sim game I found on the iPhone (although I think there's a computer version too. There are two playable characters, Max and Anne, and four date options for each of them, of both genders. There's also a stat-raising side, with a schedule (that I adopted into my own schedule-making plans XD) It's free until the Halloween part, about a fourth to a third of the way of the entire game.

Although I've played a ton of dating sims (I like romance stories >.<"....and I can't get a date), I'm talking about this one because I got so into it that I was willing to pay to unlock the full version for Anne's story. I played as Anne and went straight for the route that paired her with Max. (Dominic irritated me with his strictness sometimes :P)

Death Note:  Since Bakuman is my favorite manga ever, I decided to read Death Note, an earlier work by the same authors. The Death Note is a notebook owned by the spirits of death and anyone who's name is written in it dies. It's incredible drama and mystery and I was perpetually being baffled by Yagami Light and L's deductive ability. The moral issues that make the story were definitely interesting (and head-hurting) to contemplate, and the moral ambiguity of most of the characters was great.

(Spoilers):
I didn't actually like how it ended though. I'd known that in the end Yagami Light would have to get caught or kill off everyone (and I didn't see how the story would be with this second ending). But I was really disappointed that he went insane before he died. He was such a calm and collected actor and schemer throughout the thing that I thought for sure that he would somehow prevail.

Ongoing manga/ Anime:
No Game, No Life: A world where games decide everything....I watched the first few episodes of this and am really looking forward to more. Sora and Shiro (so cuuuuttteee!) are amazingly brilliant and I'm really looking forward to watching more of their antics.

Suki tte li na yo (Say I love you): I hate the way this one starts, with the guy basically taking advantage of the girl, but I really like how the story progresses. Honestly I don't like some of the side characters, but the story doesn't focus so much on them to get annoying. Looking forward to updates.

Akuma To Love Song (A Devil and her Love Story): A little dark and dramatic, with a nice touch of romance. The protagonist is a very perceptive girl and a great singer, and I actually quite like her (sometimes....she annoys me other times :X) I like it enough and am looking forward to updates. :)

I am currently keeping up with everything on this list and previous lists that are still updating. If I had to vote though, in terms of the reader-polls from Bakuman, this would be my list: (in my order of excitement):
1. Watashi ni xx Shinasai--The story is going weird placed, but I actually really like it. While most protagonists seem to get weaker, I'd actually say Yukina becomes a stronger person--and writer--because of her relationship with Shigure. A little. She's become terribly weak at the thought of him leaving her though.
2. Skip Beat --Still waiting on these monthly updates..... D: I really wish there were more frequent updates. But Ren and Kyouko's relationship is getting somewhere! :D :D I'm super excited! If only there were more updates....
3. Fairy Tail --The best manga in terms of updates, in my opinion. As always I love the characters and their dynamics and their feelings for each other. Also, Juvia finally got her moment to really shine (because really, we haven't seen her Phantom-power side for a while).
4. Witch Hunter--Following with a close fourth is Witch Hunter. This one is updating more now, to my delight. I'm interested where this arc is going. East and Ryuwhan are amazing. And the outfits are gorgeous.
5. Hirunaka no Ryuusei (Daytime Shooting Star)--Sensei needs to grow up. Mamura, you need to hold onto Yosano before that smoking excuse of a teacher tricks her again.

oK! That's it for now; I'll probably have another one of these reading posts before the end of the summer. Summer classes part two starts next week (read: 2 days) and fieldwork starts the week after. I'm excited to be observing the classroom again, but also worried how I'm going to put in my research hours. Those are going to be my priorities, but I will hopefully have something small to post every week nonetheless.

Meanwhile, everyone go read and catch up with Rhine and Kien because Rhine and Kien are about to kick some kingly butt. (Or rather, Rhine is about to discover something no doubt very insightful about spellcasting and Kien is going to get an assist. (And then he can ask her out at the end? Please? I ship them too much >.<")) I love the spellcasting design though. (I'd be an aircaster! With a touch of viewing and maybe imagecasting to back it up). Ahhh! Just go read. Now. Pls.