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Title: White Dragon
Author: Wada Shinji
Artist: Kinutani Yu

Summary borrowed from OurManga: Pursued by the mob, a young child seeks the protection of White Dragon, an assassin with the ability to morph into male or female, and kills by using… water…

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The sad thing is that I never got to finish this, but I did read some of the books, enough to know that it was good. If the makers of “White Dragon” would like me to review the rest, please send me English translated copies and I would be happy to oblige  (^_^)/

The artwork in White Dragon is all clean lines and straight story, there’s very little messing around, which gives it a serious air. The main character is an assassin that kills with a mysterious method and has never failed in a mission. The girl is the daughter of someone he once knew, come to seek his help. But all she really brings him is trouble, yet he keeps on bending backward to help her out and faces a rivalry of his own.

The MC doesn’t seem too interested in relationships with anyone, and there is some cross-dressing involved that kind of points to something deeper going on in his head. And he really seems to go out of his way to help the girl, and there does seem to be a kind of “maternal” vibe going on between them that is cute, but also kind of creepy.
Straight up assassin fare, with him going into various undercover situations to get his mark.

The White Dragon is an unstoppable killer, able to get around any kinds of security someone thinks to come up with, and always leaves his target DEAD.

Very awesome. Appeals mightily to the 12 year old boy in me.

Rating: 3 … Read the rest “RE BOOK: White Dragon, by Wada Shinji [manga]”

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"Alone In My King's Harem"
Alone In My King’s Harem
Author: Lily Hoshino
Released by: Digital Manga

Summary borrowed from Wikipedia: Alone in My King’s Harem (ハレムでひとり Haremu de Hitori) is a 2004 manga by Hoshino Lily. One of the first titles released by Digital Manga Publishing. Alone in My King’s Harem is composed of six stories, with only the last two stories containing the same characters. The stories are largely romantic in nature with some erotic tones. The stories focus predominantly around the “ultra-femme” uke character, with the seme character taking more of a supporting role.

aStore: print

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This book here has had a profound effect on my life. The artwork is oddly endearing and almost hauntingly cute, if such a thing can happen. It’s as though someone took the art styles of 80’s anime — the Q-tip hair, general androgynousness, and the open expressions — but ran them through a filter of sexiness, cuteness, and just basic moe! kawaii!

Lots of male/male romance, not too much graphic depictions, more sweet than anything. Everything is kind of dreamy and her stories are set in fantasy worlds that are very familiar, yet are also very different. It honestly feels as though you’re stepping into a brand new culture, and that very much appeals to me.

The titular story, “Alone In My King’s Harem,” is about an adorable male concubine that catches his king’s eye. So to please his little love, the king decides to take over his corner of the world so that he can lavish all of his love and everything else on the concubine. Unfortunately, at some point his dreams surpass reality and he forgets about the concubine, ends up with dozens of others, and just basically becomes a titanic jerk. Reality reasserts itself, he loses a big battle, … Read the rest “RE BOOK: Alone In My King’s Harem, by Lily Hoshino [manga]”

Title: MPD Psycho
Author: Eiji Otsuka
Genre: manga, horror, serial killers

Summary: In MPD-Psycho Volume 1, police detective Kobayashi Yousuke’s life is changed forever after a serial killer notices something “special” about him. That same killer mutilates Kobayashi’s wife and kick-starts a “multiple personality battle” within Kobayashi that pushes him into a complex tempest of interconnected deviants and evil forces. Earning praise for its consistently shocking plotlines and Tajima’s clean, arresting art style, MPD-Psycho is the manga event of the decade!

aStore: print Book 2 || Movies: DVD, Blu-Ray, digital 2

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is some seriously edgy stuff right here. The drawing style is clean and no-nonsense, so you’re not distracted by a lot of motion lines and garbage. The story itself is pretty twisty and at the end you’re left with this vague feeling that you’ve been run over, but that in all it was a fairly awesome experience. If you’re into serial killer stories, mind control, and group psychosis anyway. Not a whole lot of lovey-lovey here AT ALL, though the female lead is pretty sexy (so go ahead and include her in your fanfic!)

Starts off with a police detective following a serial killer. Then it goes all Se7en when a body is delivered in a cooler. From there you have our protagonist experiencing a complete mental breakdown and being institutionalized for awhile. Then he pops up years later and gets sucked back into the catching serials again.

And that’s when the story really starts. Because at the base of it all is some subversive organization pulling for the resurrection of their cult leader. How? Through the powers of genetics. MPD Psycho–Metro Police, or Multiple Personality Disorder Psycho. And that’s what everyone is in this story. Psycho.

NOTE: This is … Read the rest “RE BOOK: MPD Psycho, by Eiji Otsuka [manga]”

Haunted by the ghost of you,
the things you said,
and made me do;
the darkness that called out to me,
pulled me in,
set me free.
I lie here in my bed at night,
dream of you,
our Maybe Life,
regret the choices that we made,
the love you took into the grave.