Monthly! Real Account 2: No Answer! (ノーアンサー Nōansā)

Have you ever been duped by a profile photo while browsing your SNS of choice? The first real game in this virtual world of Real Account has started! The game is called "No Answer!" It tests the player's confidence in their looks. A panel of judges are given the task to "judge" the players' looks. The player wears an apron with either an X, a triangle or an O; with X meaning Ugly, triangle meaning "average or okay" and O meaning Good-looking. The judges will input their answer and if the majority agrees with your answer, you move to the next round. However, if majority answers the contrast of yours, then you are killed. Who wants to play?

Bessatsu Shounen Magazine 03 2014

Previously on: Real Account 1: Kashiwagi Ataru, a high schooler who is unsociable has a SNS account that lists a thousand friends. Taking Rea-Aka seriously, he becomes one of the participants in a death game. His consciousness is sucked in to the virtual world where; when people die, they die for real. The slaughter has begun, does Ataru have what it takes to save himself and the other person who saved him from certain death?

Spoiler Alert! If you are gonna read this post, please read the actual manga first!

Warning! This series contains gore, blood and mature themes!

Monthly! Real Account 1

This is one of the new series that came out this week and one of the series that I will pick up. It's about our current situation with SN (Social Networking) websites. Well, for me, it was like more than 5 years ago with Friendster. Yeah, I know! Anyway, fake friends are wide spread and this just shows you how many REAL friends (people who really care about you, family, friends, lovers and other people) that care about you. Yeah, be sad now.

I have searched the googles and I haven't found a magazine cover for this series. Sorry!

It's like Sword Art Online in a way because their consciousness gets taken out of their body and into a virtual world while dying inside the virtual world kills you in reality. It has that same hook that SAO had, a virtual world taken for granted, creating a fake persona, dying in the virtual means death in real life. So why not?

Spoiler Alert! If you are gonna read this post, please read the actual manga first!

Warning! This series contains intense gore and graphic violence!

Review: Me and the Devil Blues

After reading this big volume. It's packaged as an omnibus but they don't call it an omnibus. It's twice as long and I really enjoyed the ride this brought.

Warning! It has sensitive themes and nudity.

Well, a touring musician has a lot to sacrifice including family. Today's musician has it easier, but way back in the roaring twenties, it was like hell to be a touring bluesman. It's also not touring, but more like wandering.

Haul 2: January 21, 2014

Since I really like this series, I bought duplicates. No! They're not used! They are still in their shrink wrap with labels and stuff! Awesome deal if you do say so myself.

Black Lagoon Volumes 1, 2 & 4

Review: MPD-Psycho Volume 2

Disappointed. I feel down. I was hyped up and let down.

I was so hyped up because volume 1 just left me wanting for epic gore fest but this one lack that. They got me hooked on this addictive substance and now I'm having withdrawals because this "new version" of this substance was lacking that extra high.

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

Story so far: Yosuke Kobayashi, a detective has developed Dissociative Identity Disorder. He houses different personalities, from a psychopath to a stuttering idiot. He's currently hired by a private investigation firm and is now solving grotesque crimes.

Review: MPD-Psycho Volume 1

Dark Horse writes that this a controversial series and from my opinion, it does live up to it's name. This is so sick and so grotesque, this is beyond horror manga, this is freaking PSYCHO!

Warning! This is volume contains INTENSE GORE, SICK VIOLENCE BRUTAL CRIMES and NUDITY. This is for mature readers, preferably 20 years old and up. Be advised.

Before you click Read more, please know that this is unlike any manga out there. The level of gore this series has brought is far beyond any horror manga or any detective manga I've read. This is your last chance to back out. Please, listen to me and do not read more than this if you don't want to dream of bad dreams.

Manga in the Mail: 18

So I recently bought another gruesome manga and I'm itching to read it. From all the pictures I have of this title (a simple google image search,) I can say that this series is disgusting and I love that kind of stuff. I love horror and more than that, the making of horror. The psychology of it sounds awesome too and that really ties up with this series.

MPD-Psycho Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4

Warning! This title contains a lot of gore, graphic violence and nudity.

No seriously, it contains full-on hentai nudity. Do not go past this if you don't want to see anymore.

Review: Arisa Volume 2

More shoujo goodness! Yes, the second volume of my first shoujo series this new year! Well, not really the new year but let's just say the winter season. Iko yo!

So, I've finished this volume last year but because of my confusion on my college schedule (I literally thought my classes start the 7th of January so I was freaking out) and laziness that I didn't really bother to review this until now. Forgive me okay?

Gomenasai!

Wishlist: Mahou Shoujo of the End

This is a weird one to ask for since it's not popular and it's not licensed to be published here in the US. It's about magical girls but not exactly what you think. It's not about Sailor Moon or Meruru, it's more like Attack on Titan but without the human eating and more on the killing of humans.

Nope. Not this kind of Mahou Shoujo.

Warning! This title contains graphic violence, gore, a ton of blood and cute but deadly Magical Girls!

Manga in the Mail: 14

If vampires were real, this is the closest depiction of the mythical creatures.

Lament of the Lamb Volume 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

Wishlist: Attack on Titan

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! BUY THE MANGA ALREADY!" is what you would say after seeing the title. Let's see, the anime really went well and it satisfied the hype, it also promoted the already famous manga. The first volume came out back in 2012 and I can say that it's pretty new and the only way I can get those volumes are through buying them NEW. People wouldn't sell them yet because it's still ongoing and it's a pretty epic title. As you know, I'm a cheapskate and I only buy used (except for the overstocks).

Attack on Titan Volume 1

Manga in the Mail: 11

Arisa said, "What a Wonderful World!" because she's part of MANGA IN THE MAIL! OOHHH SNAP! ERMEHGERD!

The first five volumes of Arisa by Natsumi Ando (other works: Zodiac P.I., Wild @ Heart and Kitchen Princess)

Arisa Volume 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5: I don't know much about the story, it was an impulse buy, kind of. As I said in my "Haul" post that I like Natsumi Ando's Zodiac P.I. That was an old shoujo manga but she did pull off a series. I could not judge her work based on what I remembered because I was not in the mood for shoujo anymore at that time so I might have given it a poor grading. That said, I did get through the 4 volume title, though it was slow. My first impression as of reading the synopsis on a manga website, I find that the two titles (Zodiac P.I. and Arisa) have the same mystery element playing. I'm not into mystery really, except for those that kill off people in gory and graphic ways.

The story is about two sisters (identical twins) separated at birth. They promised to write each other after their parents' divorce. Now Arisa attempted suicide because of some secret that Tsubasa doesn't know about. Arisa is in a coma and Tsubasa is bent on finding out why her sister had attempted to commit suicide.

That's the gist I got through reading the synopsis. I have two new Natsumi Ando works, I hope I don't have a hard time reading them. Anyway, the reviews are probably not gonna be shown until late January because I'm not sure when I'll have the time to read them. Anyways, cheers and have a good day!

Review: Dogs: Bullets & Carnage Volume 2

Just as promised! I've come back with the second volume and it's filled with more action than you can chew!
Also, it's Christmas today so... Merry Christmas! Hope you have an awesome day ahead and like this review, BANZAI!

Naoto + Nill + Nuki + Lokie = Awesome Cover Art

Warning! This volume contains graphic violence, gore, blood and mild nudity.

So you've read Volume 1 and the Prelude. If you have not, you can't catch up to this review. This is mostly about the story. The art is still the same awesome style.

Review: Black Lagoon Volume 2

Neo Nazis, Nuns with guns, Cigarettes kissing and psychopathic twins, all in one volume! Yay! What more can you ask for a seinen series?

After finishing volume 1, don't you feel satisfied? Because of the stand-alone stories that are inside volume 1, you don't a volume 2 really. It felt like a one shot manga instead of a series. It figures, Rei Hiroe took his sweet time to complete the first volume within 2 years. Enough about that, time for the real point here, volume 2.

Review: Alive: The Final Evolution Volume 2

Spoilers ahoy! You need to read the first volume to get ready for this because I'm going all out on the story here. You have been warned!

Warning! This title contains graphic violence, gore and blood.

This volume continues the story where volume 1 left off: A few chosen people who survived the strange virus have gained unique powers. Most of these chosen ones call themselves "comrades" as they possess the power to lead people to "death," because life means suffering. Taisuke Kano now knows about these unique powers and has discovered that Hirose was the one who killed his bullies at the rooftop. Hirose comes for their friend; Megumi Ochiai, to save her. Accidentally, Hirose pushes Megumi off the rooftop but Taisuke comes to the rescue. Taisuke grabs a hold of her and falls with her. Landing on his feet, Taisuke and Hirose are both surprised to know that he has powers of his own but Hirose does not welcome Taisuke as a comrade. It ends with Taisuke fainting.

Wishlist: Neon Genesis Evangelion

If you are an anime loving person then you should have come across this show. It's a masterpiece, a classic and a mind-trucking journey towards insanity of a show. I wrote about this show on one of my papers and I said:

This anime is a deconstruction of the *mecha subgenre. It focuses on the psychoanalysis of each character in the show and how a character breaks into more pieces as time goes on. On the outside, it looks like a regular super-robot anime but as the show progresses, its true colors show up and kids might be turned off by the unusually long dialogue and flashbacks into a character’s past. Anyone who first watches this will not understand the show in face value and this just shows how great an anime can be.

Manga in the Mail: 9

Battle Royale, a theme that is gory and is down-right awful. When I think about survival, I think about Bear Grylls. *Crickets chirping* Just kidding.

Let's do that again. When I think about survival, I think about the human instinct. The basic command of finding food, water and shelter. If a situation deals you with more people, it becomes a disaster. You can live by yourself and survive by yourself if you are extra careful. Adding people into the survival mix is gonna get you killed sooner or later. Why? Conflicts, self-preservation, lies and other stuff that people can do for their own survival. That's what made me buy this series. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: Limit.

Review: Dogs: Prelude

I thought about reviewing more of Dogs: Bullets & Carnage but I think I'm gonna pass that up and review the prelude first. Since I have read only the prelude and the first four, my information regarding the whole story might be incomplete .

Warning! This volume contains graphic violence, gore, blood and mild nudity.

This is a prologue to the series Dogs: Bullets & Carnage. The Dogs series wasn't planned to be 10 volumes long and it was only meant to have this oneshot of a title. Because of the demand for a continuation, Shirow Miwa created the main story Dogs: Bullets & Carnage which has the meat of it all. This volume acts like a compilation of different characters, each story has highlights each of the four characters.

Review: Alive: The Final Evolution Volume 1

It's another review! Woo!! I don't want to bog you all down with manga haul impressions and what not so I'm reviewing stuff. Please bear with the shallowness of my reviews. Arigato!

Warning! This title contains graphic violence, gore and blood.

My first impression of this title goes like this: "Whoa! Suicide Virus! Lethal Pandemic! This is awesome!" If you've read my past posts, I really like dark themes. I'm not making fun of it, I'm just really interested in the psychological aspect of it all. My psych teacher once told me that people who have killed a person in their life had a change in their brain. That, to me, is interesting so I'm sorry if this is too morbid for you. Anyway, let's move on to the review shall we?

Now Reading: 5

I'm trying to finish the other Now Reading titles but I feel like I lack the enthusiasm to finish. On to more unfinished business!

WARNING! This volume contains graphic violence, implied rape and a ton of gore.

Okay, I think I've seen the title that could possibly compare to the bloody roller coaster called Batlle Royale.

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit Volume 1: A country (most likely Japan) passed a law that randomly selects one person a day; between the ages 18-24, to die in 24 hours after receiving an Ikigami (Death Papers, documents that notify a person that he has 24 hours left to live). This law is to get people live healthy and happy lives. If people think that their life is short, they become more productive with their time.

The story is about a man who delivers Ikigami's to the person who is going to die; Kengo Fujimoto. He doesn't side with this law 100% and he still questions this law. Is this job really honorable? It must be! It's for the best of the country! But after a few months, he starts to get used to it somehow.

Art: The art is very good and it complements the story so well. To get the scare factor, you have to draw it as realistic as possible. You can definitely say that it truly belongs to Viz Media's Signature series. The details and expressions on peoples face are accurate.

It's gory and graphic, like it should be. It instantly clicks.

Story: I'm in the halfway mark of the volume which finishes the first story of the first Ikigami recipient in this title. I like how the plot, incorporates the Ikigami recipient's past into the story. It felt the same like when I was reading Battle Royale, as it highlights each "victim" as a main character. I like that kind of story telling: introduction, backstory, present day. How did each character come to be? Will the past factor in the person's actions within his/her last 24 hours?

The pacing is good and it doesn't waste space on useless action. It skips time of inactivity but sometimes, it feels like it jumped over some details that I want to know. Overall, it's a nice page-to-page experience.

Bottomline: Read it. If you want some realistic action and some inhumane rule/law/act, this is for you. I warn you though, I don't want novices to be reading this yet. This is a dark manga that presents a realistic plan to make people do what you want them to do. This is Machiavellian stuff right here.