Recent Purchases (Kinokuniya is AWESOME)

Excuse the shoddy image quality, the photo came from my 3DS

Recently, I’ve decided to improve my Japanese by owning more Japanese-language reading material. Luckily, when I went to go eat with my friends at Mitsuwa Marketplace San Jose, I noticed that there was a Kinokuniya Book Store right next to it. Remembering that a merchant at Fanime recommended it to me for manga, light novels, and whatnot (God bless him), I decided to go there after feasting on tsukimi udon and takoyaki.

Continue reading Recent Purchases (Kinokuniya is AWESOME)…

You Can’t Fool Me Twice! (Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice)

So I just got around to reading Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice, up to the latest chapter. Suffice to say, it starts out pretty happy, but since I’ve watch the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime series, the quick shift to utter darkness didn’t catch me off guard this time around.

I have to say, the plot twist in chapter 14 was pretty awesome, especially since you can spot some clever foreshadowing while re-reading previous chapters. Even though it isn’t written by Gen Urobuchi, the overall spirit and mood of its parent series is still there, and is emulated perfectly by Maaki Hiramatsu. Kind of miss Ume Aoki’s designs though, but Takashi Tensugi’s art is pretty. This spin-off seems to have much more yuri undertones than its parent series did (which all could have been taken out of context, for all we know), so I’m a happy man. <3

Without being as spoilerish as possible, I summarize my thoughts on the latest chapter in two words: POOR KAZUMI.

And also…

(BEWARE)

Continue reading You Can’t Fool Me Twice! (Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice)…