Not Simple (manga)

The title of this manga fits it perfectly. It is very unfortunate that it is only two chapters, and the ending kills...no, it's the beginning that kills.

This manga is a tragedy about the misfortunes one man received in his horribly miserable life. The story starts with the present, which is how he dies. Yes, this is not a spoiler because it is the beginning. He only has a friend or two in his entire life that he met as an adult and one of them decides to make a novel out of him.

It's about an Australian boy; Ian, whose sister is also his mother. This isn't even the worst part. The child gets separated from his sister, one of the only people that ever cared about him and he lived in London with his alcoholic ex-stepmother who loathes him. His abuse was in the form of neglect and he even provided for her. Later on, he was sent back to Australia to live with his father, who didn't care about him either. Before he left however, he managed to meet his sister and promise her to achieve his goal before the next time they meet. The poor dude ends up travelling far and wide to follow up with his promise and see his sister and we already know how the tragedy ends.

Ian and his older sister

Can you guess what gum represents?

The manga is a bit hard to follow because the perspective often switches from character to character and from past to present. The art, as you can see, is not the best, but it does grow on you after a few pages, or rather his expressions and few words are extremely powerful. This manga has neglect, sexual, and emotional abuse so the content is mature; however, there are no disgusting images. There is a few symbolism here and there and you have to pick up on hints and cues as no detail is put in the abusive events, only that you understand they happened, which is how people often overlook them in real life. I think that is one of the things that captivated me about Ian, it was how accepting he was of everything bad that ever happened to him. Ian is so blunt as well, and so pure hearted that it makes me just wanna grab him in a hug and help him out. I wish he had his happy ending.

Ian being polite and sweet despite the horrible events in his life

I definitely recommend this manga, I think it's 5/5 and that you should be at least 15 years old just because of its mature topic. It tugged at a few strings in my heart.

Peace,
M.D.

My Heart is Beating (Manhwa)

This lovely manhwa (korean comic) is actually a webtoon! Webtoons are coloured really lengthy manhwas. You just keep scrolling down forever instead of clicking for the next page, so I love that.

This manhwa is about a boy (Sugu) who has a fascination, no, an obsession with swimsuits. It isn't a fetish, it's just a hobby.
While spying on the women in the school swimming pool, the coach of the female water polo team spots him. The coach then black mails Sugu into joining the team as a girl in order to complete the minimum amount of team members required for his team. Of course, no one in the team knows that he is a boy and
with this, our story begins.

You see, the main character is also being pressured by his dad, the vice principal, into being the top student in class.

one page from the webtoon My Heart is Beating

 This drama is basically about the suffocation the main character feels, and how he will have to confront his problems instead of avoiding them.
That's not all though; as he starts to build a relationship with his water polo team mates, he starts to learn a little bit about each one of them. This also helps him to learn more about himself.

This manhwa is pretty good, it's main genres are gender bender, drama, comedy, sports, and school life.

The female water polo team
Can you guess which one is Sugu? 

Comment your feedback,
M.D.

Mirrai Nikki

Mirai Nikki is an anime that makes no sense. I'm being honest here, I've kept hearing about the pink haired yandere, Yuno Gasai, and I wasn't really interested. However, after coming across the abridged series of Mirai Nikki, I felt like I should know the real thing before I spoil it on the funny one.

To say the least, it makes zero sense.
It's a game, a survival game to "gods" throne. You see, apparently "god" is dying and needs a successor, so he makes up a game that involves 12 random people where the last one standing wins his throne.
Each player gets a little diary that predicts a certain future. With that, they are able to escape, or kill, or know how to manipulate their future to survive. To win the game, you destroy the other diaries. Pretty simple really, until you notice that many people don't destroy each other when they had the chance to do it at least 10 times.

First: the protagonist. He's a 14 year old pussy, I hate using that word, but he really stayed true to the very end to the fact that he's a big wuss. I liked that at first, he made things realistic. I mean, won't you be scared if people were trying to kill you? He, however, is scared and irrational at the same time. It bothered me a bit. but what really pissed me off was that in the end, just like almost every anime, the main guy is the hero that eventually saves the day. No, I really still don't understand how in God's name he pulled it off. Like I said, it makes no sense. His diary is the random diary.

Yukki Amano

Second: The pink haired yandere that
made this anime famous. She's a stalker! Not the funny stalker you see in anime, but the stalker that you will freak about in real life. She's possessive, obsessive and insane on the inside yet holds a sweet face on the outside. That's why the word "yandere" fits her perfectly. She's also 14 and a classmate of Yukki! Her diary tells her everything Yuki is doing! Creepy? you don't know the half of it.

Second: Yuno Gasai

Third: A seriel killer. Yeah, I don't even remember him talking in the whole show. He has the assassin diary.

Third

  Fourth: Detective Kuruse?  No, I'm not sure of his name, but he is the chief detective. He isn't really interested in being a "god", much like most of the people. He has the investigator diary.

Fourth

Fifth: I don't know his name either, but he's a little five year old genius that is almost as insane as Yuno! Everything he does in this show makes little sense, even for a genius. The fact that he accessed all these weapons is beyond me. He has a coloring book diary!

Fifth

      Sixth: A little girl that is also the leader of a cult. She has poor vision, and has lived her entire life imprisoned in a temple as some sort of prophecy. her diary is written in a scroll.

Sixth

Seventh: are actually two people! They're lovers!
They have the exchange diaries which allows them to see each other's future.

seventh

Eighth: Not much is known about her other than she runs an orphanage. She's one of those characters that don't make sense. She's always standing with her arms spread to the sides and just....look how much she resembles the white dough boy from bakery commercials!

Eighth

ninth: one of the best characters in the show. She's a terrorist, quite literally. She goes around murdering people effortlessly and wants to become a god to make the world better. Perhaps you can say she's the anti-hero?

She has the escape diary, it tells her where she can hide and run to. She is the only realistic person in the show, yet, she had so many opportunities to kill first and second that it was just sad to watch her lose these chances.

ninth: Minene Uryuu

Tenth: A guy that was more in love with his dogs than his family. He had the breeder diary and didn't really show up much in the show. He even used his own daughter to do the killing for him.

Tenth

eleventh: one of the only guys I didn't sympathize with at all. He was the one just a little smarter than most and his diary was the all seeing or so. He actually had access to peek into other diaries!

Eleventh

 Twelfth: This guy is actually one of my favorites. I don't know why his background wasn't revealed. especially since he has a strange fixation on attaining justice! His diary was a recorder because he was practically blind. He dressed up and acted based on all mighty justice and righteousness!

Twelfth: Is so FABULOUS!

           
Of course there are more characters such as Yukki's insane parents the "god", murmur ( "god's" servant) and amazing friends and lovers!

What's sad about this is that almost every character is fucked in the head due to some sort of childhood trauma, or seriously occurring problem. Rape, neglect, war, child abuse, abandonment. Most of them have sob stories.

That aside, here's a little funny photo that fits Yuno and Yukki's relationship pretty well:

I need to go back to studying now, pray for me,
M.D.

My Childhood Anime #3

9) Himitsu No Hanazono no (Eng: The Secret Garden) (Ar: الحديقة السرية) pub: (1991)

It is about a little girl named Mary that moves to her uncle's mansion. There she befriends a servant boy and his older sister. She later on befriends her crippled and arrogant cousin cole (collin) and trys to help him recover. Those kids discover the secret garden and try to liven it up again and discover the secrets that had occurred between its walls.

The three main characters

10) Sailor moon (1995)

Now, I never watched this in Arabic  In fact I watched this in Canada, but since I was under the age of ten, it was part of my childhood. I never had the chance to watch more than several episodes, but I still loved it, though I would never watch it again due to it being so boring. I had colouring books of Sailor moon and an action figure of sailor Neptune  I think this anime taught me what a lesbian was and the word "tiara".

It was about a girl, sailor moon  who was also some form of superhero. She had joined with other women to protect the earth. Or at least that's what I understood. They had to disguise themselves though, like every other superhero out there.

11) Bomberman B-daman Bakugaiden (Ar: بيدابول) pub: 1998

It was about B-da people who, were in another world and as most anime, fought the evil guys! Their way of fighting was to shoot B-da balls from their stomachs out to the enemy. I'm not sure how this was in Japanese or English, but in Arabic the main character's names were based on their colour. Red was hamraa, white was abyad, and black was aswad. Typically again, black used to be the evil, emo, angst, cool guy who eventually joins the good side.

I think I used to watch it for the sake of the really fun arabic theme song. My favorite thing about arabic dubs, to this day, is the creative theme songs they recreate.

Doraemon (Ar: عبقور) Pub: 1973

Now, this is a pretty famous anime worldwide. It is about a cat from the future who visits our boy protagonist (on the far left of the pic below) to warn him about the debt he will inherit to his grandchildren due to his behavior.  This cat, of course, is no ordinary cat. It is a cat with a magical pouch, anything can be pulled out of that thing. The cat, doraemon, helps the little boy overcome certain bad habits, escape trouble, and or face his problems. Very educational, though I think I was too young to really remember much of it all.

My Childhood Anime #2

I can't believe they have put three of my childhood animes on spacetoon. Why after midnight though? The nostalgia is bringing tears to my eyes.

First, Digimon (Ar: ابطال الديجيتال) was on. (1999)
It was the first season. I always thought it was somewhat similar to Pokemon.  It's about a group of kids who travel to another dimension. They possess little monsters and gadgets, who later upgrade throughout the series.

Second, was Tico of the Seven Seas (Ar: اسرار المحيط) h (1994)
Which is an anime about a young girl who is journeying with her dad and some friends on a boat, though now that I think about it, it was probably for scientific research or something. One of her friends is a killer whale. That anime taught me how whales give birth. I suppose that was a spoiler?

Now, the channel is playing the animated version of the Sound of Music called Trapp Family Story (Ar: لحن الحياة) published in (1991).
I loved that show! It's epic, somehow more so than the movie. I was just talking about it to Dana too. Oh, if only she didn't have school tomorrow. I would've dragged her out of her bed to watch with me!

Don't forget to comment and follow!

Peace,
M.D.

My Childhood Anime

I have grew up on watching anime and I just might never forget them, so here's a little list of the old and perhaps unknown or forgotten anime:

 Akachan to Boku (Eng: Baby and Me/ Ar: ana wa akhi) (1996)

One of my favorite childhood animes is Akachan to Boku. This anime is basically about a boy who looks after his little brother. This anime focuses on the older brother and how he manages to overcome the little hassles of life after his mother passed away. It is a very loving and sweet anime that just leaves you content and happy after you watch it. It also has its funny moments, like whenever his bushy browed friend comes in and does his trade dance. To this day I would watch this anime whenever it is on t.v.

Princess Sarah ( Ar: Sally) (1985)

I found this anime really depressing. The anime takes place somewhere in France. The anime starts with rich and high class Sarah who joins a little boarding school because her father is away on a business trip to India. Everything goes downhill once news of her father's death arrives to the school. Sarah's status is immediately dropped from a student to a maid in the school (letterly). Her character is very soft and gentle, not something I like, but she always maintanes her dignity and pride which is something I respect. She goes through a lot of strife and humiliation from her former peers and superiors but her kindness prevails in the end.

Dai no Daibouken (Eng: Dragon Quest/ Ar: Dai Alshoja') (1991)

It is a typical epic action/ adventure anime. It is about Dai and his group of friends who try to defeat this evil lord. This anime teaches bravery and friendship.

Chibi Maruko-chan (Eng: Little maruko/ Ar: Maroko) (1990)

This anime I have actually rewatched with my older sister recently. It was one of those shows that I would sit and wait to see in front of the t.v. This anime tells the story of  a little Japanese girl named Maruko and her hilarious life at home with her family and at school with her classmates. I easily related to Maruko because I had an older sister like her, and like everyone I hated waking up in the morning and procrastinated my homework. She's adorable and fun to watch.

Romio no Aoi Sora (Eng: Romeo's Blue Sky/ Ar: عهد الاصدقاء) ( yr. 1995)

Another favorite of mine. This anime takes place in England back when the chimney sweep children were legal. The lead character is Romio (The brunette) and he gets basically sold to this man to pay off the damage of the farm's fire. The man holds a little chimney sweep business and Romeo starts working for him along with many other children. His friendship grows with Alfredo (blonde boy in the picture), his sister Bianca, and several other characters. Together they go through the harsh realities of life and eventually manage to escape the cruel job of a chimney sweep. I originally thought this was an anime of Romeo and Juliette as a child, but of course, that is not the case. I really love this anime, and the drama it has.

Hope you had the chance to watch at least one of these classics. If not, I hope you can manage to find them.

Kuroshitsuji (Manga)

I should be studying for my finals but instead, I will make this one quick post.

Favorite picture of Ciel Phantomhive

         I just read
Kuroshitsuji and my, oh my, what a beautiful manga. I never knew what a great manga it was! It had everything I desire in stories; strong stable unique characters, a great focused plot, dark ambiance, anguish, tragic pasts and continuous mental and physical suffering of the main/ favorite character. Yet, some light random humorous moments to lift the spirits. It also had glorious drawings, which is a bonus. Something else I loved was it was unpredictable, it had NO CLICHES; there were several surprises here and there which added to the thrill of it all. All these thoughts ran through my man as I was reading the manga,  "This person got stabbed? that person is seriously ill, that person can actually kick ass?! I knew that person was the murderer all along, but wait...what's that?!" and finally "How will they get out of this one now?!"

The more they did that pose, the funnier it got.

         For those who never heard of Kuroshitsuji, AKA Black Butler. It is a story that revolves around a child; Ciel, of a wealthy, prestigious family of England; The Phanomhive, in the 18th century. This child's family was killed at the age of ten and then he was kidnapped for a month by some nobles in which he was tortured and starved. As a last attempt for help, he unconsciously summoned a demon that night and to gain the demon's powers he made a contract with him. Ciel; the earl of England and the Queen's watch dog, traded his vengeful soul in return for power so that he can take revenge on the people who were behind this tragedy. The demon became "one hell of a butler" as a disguise and mean to be at his master's side and aid until the day he gets to devour his soul.

 The readers/ watchers already know this wont end well, and we already know Ciel is not exactly "the good guy"...or "the villain". I suppose the little anti-hero is willing to do anything for revenge. Huh, he sounds a little bit like Sasuke now. I wonder if a Naruto will come to save him!

        How do I say this? I hated Kuroshitsuji; the anime. I watched it in 2007 or so, and then I watched part two in around 2010 or 2009 and I thought it had the dumbest plot. The idea of a demon butler serving this child, was new and interesting and I loved the artwork. However, I hated how nothing made sense in the anime. They showed some flashbacks, but it didn't make any sense. They just ...flashed! and I knew Ciel was in anguish and was looking for the murderers of his parents, but it didn't make any sense. The episode of the Queen was creepy and didn't help one bit. And in the end (spoiler) he should've just died because Sebastian ate his soul...so ...why did he become a demon? (spoiler ends) Plus all the characters like Grell, Lady Red, Lao and Elizabeth were so annoying. The amount of fan girls this thing has was annoying, the name pronunciation was the most annoying "seiaru", and "erizabet", pfft! Nothing made sense; it was all for the fan service, is what I thought. I thought this anime is hinting at some perverted pedophilia yaoi fan service just like "Loveless" was doing and I don't like it! The ending was the most confusing, or at least that's what I remember! It was years ago after all.

Season two made no sense, why was ciel even alive, and why was sebastian still chasing after him? ._. and that poor little blondie..I think I watched season two for the abused blondie...NO! back to the point.

I never even considered reading the manga, especially after I watched such a horrible anime version of it....until I was searching for "manga slave" (yes, I'm weird) and came across this picture:

Ciel's slave mark revealed

       That picture took my breath away. Someone trying desperately to hide a slave mark, but he is forced to show it. oooh, how I longed to see the reactions that followed after and I was not disappointed when I did. I was confused to know that that person was in fact Ciel Phantomhive, and that there seems to be this Freckles person tugging at his shirt. "Wait, when was ciel a slave?" I thought. And "I don't recall a Freckles". That's why I started reading the manga. I loved how twisted everything is, how afraid Ciel is, and how uncaring Sebastian really is. I also really loved Sebastian's perspective of the events. "...but he would wake up every night, regardless of the racket. Haunted by nightmares, he would wake up screaming."

Petrified Ciel

        The manga is amazing. It makes perfect sense, and every once in a while it tugs you back to that wretched feeling of guilty pleasure at the sight of a small suffering Ciel in one of his flashbacks. And what was even better, is that it's all PTSD that he is suffering currently that makes it all the more beautiful. The way Ciel clings to his blanket, like a child refusing anything but sweetened milk, as opposing to his composed elegant self. AUGH! It makes me want to read more.



but alas, I've hit the stump. I finished reading chapter 91 and they update on a monthly basis. How depressing.

I've even gotten a tad bit obsessed to the point that I've saved a picture of him as a screen saver and doodled it in less than 10 minutes:

..Later...:

Ciel Sketch #2

A better sketch of Ciel, however, he still doesn't look quite right. He needs to look thinner. This round face makes him look even younger.

I can't wait to see where this will go..
"How beautiful and foolish..." ciel is... By far, my favorite anti-hero.

Peace,
M.D.