[Vid] A tour to Kinokuniya

Last week our group had a tour to Kinokuniya bookstore on George St, opposite the QVB. Although this is just a short clip, we hope through it you can have one more point in your list of paradise. :">

[Review] No.6

Note: Once again, I swear this is shounen-ai despite the fact that it is not listed in genres. :v

1. Background information

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi

Type: TV Series

Number of Episodes: 11

Airing year: 2011

Website: No.6 Wiki

Summary: No.6 is known as a perfect city rebuilt after most of the world was destroyed due to war. Shion is an elite student and have a high IQ growing up in No.6. When he was 12, he saved an injured prisoner who was escaping, Nezumi. After having a night together, Nezumi disappeared the later morning. 4 years later, after seeing many people suddenly died mysteriously, Shion raised his suspicion to No.6 and was captured by the Security Bureau with the reason that he had lost his loyalty to No.6. Nezumi appeared on time to rescue him and took him to the real world, the world outside of No.6 which was covered by poverty. They lived there for a while, met some people and tried to discover what exactly was under the beautiful surface of No.6.

2. Characters

Shion

Shion is the name of a light purple flower. His hair and eye colors were originally brown. This appearance was the result of the poison from the bees which had caused number of mysterious deaths in No.6.

Nezumi

His name means "rat". Shion used to say his name was strange, but he himself didn't aware of that.

Nezumi was from the Forest People, a tribe which had been ruined by No.6. That's why he always wanted to destroy No.6 as a revenge.

Safu

Shion's childhood friend. She loved Shion, but he just saw her as a friend. She was the suitable sample to wake Elyurias.

Inukashi

Inukashi means "dog keeper" in general, it's not a name. There is no exact information about this person's gender but may be I should use "she" since I have a feeling that this is a girl. She was grown up by a dog and lived among dogs in West Block outside No.6 (also where Nezumi lived). To her, dogs are even better friends than human. She run a hotel where she leased the dogs to help the customers keep warm. She also sold information collected by her dogs.

"Whether you are a dog or a human, you die and start stinking. No matter how much you struggle or cling to life, you will eventually die."

- said Inukashi -

Rikiga

He was one of the creators of  No.6 and used to be a journalist for Latch Bill newspaper and try to discover the dubious of No.6, but then he gave up to exchange a luxurious life among the poverty of West Block by "recommending" women to No.6 officials. He loved Karan, Shion's mother. So when Karan told Shion to find him for help, he tried to support and also wanted to take care of Shion.

Elyurias

The God of the Forest People and also the power No.6 tried to obtain. No.6 used its own citizens for the experiment to find the suitable sample to wake Elyurias and use her power. And to revenge for the act of burning the Forest People, Elyurias let the bees parasitize in No.6 citizens and kill them to destroy No.6.

3. "I want you to stay the Shion I know"

Note: The story is quite complicated so I will just focus on Nezumi and Shion. For the whole content, watching the series will give you a complete enjoyment. For more details, I recommend the manga if you have time since there are some content shortened in the anime so it's a little bit hard to understand.

Nezumi and Shion first met each other in a stormy night when they were both 12. At that time, Nezumi was on the way escaping from Correctional Facility and Shion carelessly let the windows open which created an opportunity for Nezumi to break into his house.

Nezumi's first intention was to bully Shion but after seeing Nezumi's injure, Shion voluntarily helped him take out the bullet in his arm and bandaged it. Shion also gave him food and let him stay at his house one night despite the fact that he was a prisoner.

Their first night, holding hands and falling asleep together.

The day after that, Nezumi left. The Security Bureau found out Shion had covered a prisoner. They revoked all of his special privileges. He had to move to Lost Town and lived a normal life with his mother. For years later, he worked as a normal employee of No.6 with the job of managing the park. After gaining suspicion for No.6, he was caught by the Security Bureau and was took to the Correctional Facility. On the way, he was rescued by Nezumi.

Nezumi showing Shion the West Block, the real world out side No.6

Shion is not a simple person, I think. There may be something behind which was not showed in the anime. That's why I think it would be better to read the manga.

Shion appeared as a naive child with the ideal of peace. While Nezumi always thought of destroying No.6 to revenge, Shion tried to find a way which does not harm anyone. He came up with the idea of breaking the wall around No.6 so that there would not be No.6 any more.

Nezumi at first really objected the way Shion tried to protect No.6. But then, when Shion became strange and not the one he had known anymore, he kept reminding Shion the idea of breaking the wall.

Shion did not only show his strangeness at the end of the series but also at some points during the series.

This is in their first meet with Rikiga. When Rikiga offered Nezumi a job as a prostitute, Shion got angry and jumped to beat Rikiga while he was normally a good child and never wished to injure anyone.

The second time is when Shion suddenly touched Nezumi's neck. He was so fast that Nezumi didn't have enough time to recognize or gain vigilance. For the first time, Shion scared Nezumi. Since that time, Nezumi had knew that, Shion was not simple as his appearance.

"How dare you... do that to Nezumi?"

And this is the climax when Nezumi was shot by a soldier in Correctional Facility. Shion, without any fear, shot that guy until death. Nezumi burst into tears and kept blaming himself for taking Shion to the Correctional Facility despite the knowledge that that place would change his Shion.

"What you see from here on out may change you. I may even come to know that I've never understood a thing about you. But I don't want you to change. I want you to stay the Shion I know."

- said Nezumi to Shion before they entered the Correctional Facility -

I want you to stay the Shion I know, even though that Shion is so naive that he pissed me off countless times.

(This is what I understand from what he said :v)

4. Conclusion

Although my review only focus on Nezumi and Shion, the story is great itself. There are few characters but each one plays an important role.

To talk a little about Safu, I actually don't like her since most people don't like the third wheel. But I don't hate her as well. After all, she was the one who sacrificed her life and save Shion from death. Some people said that Elyurias was the one who save Shion, not Safu, but it is clear that it was Safu's love for Shion and her wish to save him that Elyurias did that.

Although the open ending of the series does not satisfy most of its audiences including me, it's still better than a sad ending. More open, more hope, more imagination. :))

Two kiss scenes for bonus. This is the reason why I said that it's shounen-ai. XD

Their good-night kiss...

And their good-bye kiss.

Discover No.6 and enjoy your time~ ;)

Writer: Gin

Reference sources:

• No.6 Wiki
• KissAnime
• Some images found through Google.

[Review] Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland is a manga series written by Jinsei Kataoka and illustrated by Kazuma Kondou, who also wrote and illustrated the Eureka Seven  manga, and published in Shonen Ace since 2008 Tokyopop acquired the licensing rights to distribute the manga in English and released the first 5 volumes of the manga before the company shut down its North American Publishing division in 2011. On July 7, 2013 Viz Media announced that they licensed the series for English language release in North America and will release the first volume on February 11, 2014, with new volumes releasing every two months. An anime adaptation aired between April and July 2011, pulling content from the first 21 chapters of the manga. The anime is licensed byFunimation Enertainment and aired on Adult Swim's World newly revived Toonami block.

Plot:

A massive anomaly ravaged Japan's mainland and destroyed most of Tokyo, sinking three-quarters of the city into the ocean. Ten years later, the story shifts to Ganta Igarashi, a seemingly ordinary student attending Nagano Prefecture's middle school. As an escapee, a survivor of the great earthquake, Ganta has no memories of the tragedy and has lived a normal life. This all changes when a strange person covered in blood and crimson armor floats through his classroom windows. Grinning madly, the 'Red Man' massacres Ganta's entire class but instead of killing him, embeds a red crystal shard in Ganta's chest. Within days of the massacre, Ganta is subjected to a kangaroo court as a suspect and is sentenced to death at Deadman Wonderland, a massive theme park-like prison. What awaits him in the prison is only for you to know.

Highly recommended and critically acclaimed this anime packs all the punch for gore anime theme lovers. With surprises around every corner this anime will hook you up that you cant get enough.

By Eyepatch69 (Sushant)

[Review] Hotarubi no Mori e

"Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light"

Story

Hotarubi no Mori tell the story of a six-year-old girl named Hotaru Takegawa, who gets lost in a forest inhabited by a yamagami, or mountain spirit, as well as yōkai (strange apparitions from Japanese folklore). She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who informs Hotaru that he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human. Gin then leads Hotaru out of the forest. Hotaru returns to visit Gin in the forest over the next few days and they become friends despite the limitations on their interactions. Although at summer's end she must leave Gin to return to the city and her studies, Hotaru promises to return to visit him every summer holiday. As the years go by, Gin hardly ages while Hotaru physically matures and grows closer to his apparent age. Upon reaching adolescence, Hotaru begins to struggle with their budding romance and their uncertain future together, while Gin wishes he could touch and hold the young woman that Hotaru has become. When Hotaru reaches high school, Gin takes her on a date to a festival in the forest hosted by the spirits. The night ends in tragedy when Gin mistakenly touches a young boy who sneaked into the spirit festival, though before he disappears, he and Hotaru embrace and confess their love for one another.

Gin

Gin's parents abandoned him in the forest when he was just born. He was wailing in the forest, attracting the attention of the Yokais that lived there. When the forest lord (Yamagami) place a mask on baby Gin, he would stop crying. Seeing that Gin was a harmless soul, the Moutain God decided to save his life by casting a spell on Gin that would maintain his body and that he would age a quarter slower than a normal human would. However the spell comes with a cost- whenever Gin comes into physical contact with humans, the spell would obliterate, causing his body to disappear.

Hotaru Takegawa

While visiting her Uncle's house during Summer, Hotaru got lost in the forest of the Mountain God. Alone and afraid, she started crying, attracting Gin who was a spirit living in the forest. Hotaru learnt that Gin was a spirit that cannot be touched by human, if not, he’ll disappear. Even though Gin was a spirit, Hotaru showed no fear towards him.

Year after year, they both spent summer time together happily. Gin watches her grow up. Hotaru also get dressed into her school uniform each time she moved up grades to show Gin. At one point, Hotaru realizes that she was starting to like Gin, and starting to grow to his height.

Gin starting disappear

The first and last hug....

I stumbled upon this anime by pure coincidence while I was searching for something similar to Mushishi. Since it had only one episode, I thought to myself: I will give it a go. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed. It is truly great, but extremely sad. I cried like a baby during the last 10-15 minutes. Seriously, it is devastating. From my point of view at least. It is about love that can never become reality because even the slightest touch by a human will make him disappear. The story is simple, the characters are well thought out, but it is really so sad. Being so close together, yet so far apart. Is is a story so bitter-sweet it really made me appreciate life more...


-by Lyn-

[News] Tokyo Ghoul Resurrection

New Update: Tokyo Ghoul Resurrection

When-will.net stated that the sequel to the original series, "Tokyo Ghoul:re" will probably be the story of "Tokyo Ghoul" season 3.

According to the website, "the story will revolve around Kaneki who is now an amnesiac and is now known as Haise Sasaki, a rank 1 investigator and the leader of a special unit of investigators at the Commission of Counter Ghoul called Quinx Squad.What a twist in the plot. All the members of that unit underwent similar surgeries as him, allowing them to obtain the special abilities of ghouls in order to fight them, but still being able to live as normal humans." 

For those who are new to the series, "Tokyo Ghoul" is a highly regarded Japanese manga series by mangaka Sui Ishida. The manga series was serialized in the Weekly Young Jump between September 2011 and September 2014 and was compiled to 14 volumes in August of 2014.

More bood more violence, the blood lust continues...

By Sushant

http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/187303/20150327/tokyo-ghoul-season-3.htm