This entry is mostly about two manga series. ^^
Billion Girl (Birion Garu)
This series just printed its first volume. The rest can be found in Asuka. At first I read the katakana wrong and read its burion garu and thought "what is burion garu?" and then I realized that it was Billion Girl with a yen sign infront. So the title should actually be read Billion Yen Girl.
The premise of the story is a bit sketchy because I don't have the first few chapters of Billion Girl. But from what I got from it was that Kanoko is the youngest of 3 daughters who lives in a odango shop. She was forced to wake up early and make breakfast and pack lunch for her two older (and prettier) sisters. Until she met a man who was a bestselling author (the name escapes me right now ^^;;). This man is your typical long blond haired bishounen. If anything he looks more like a J-rocker than a best selling author. Here is where what *think* is going on before I started readind this series. ^^;;
Anyways, Houjou-san (which is what Kanoko calls the author) was going through a streak of writer's block (or something devastating) and he some how meets Kanoko (your average typical high school student age 16) and BAM! (Like a Emerill cooking show...) Houjou-san can write again! He decides to marry her on the spot and calls her his "Billion Girl". Kanoko is whisked away to his mansion where she meets the butler (who needless to say is excited that his master brought home a wife o_O) and lives with Houjou-sensei!
What's cute about the series is the random story book references. Kanoko could be seen as a "cinderella" character and Houjou-sensei as "the handsome princes that saves her." Ironically Kanoko is very plain (school uniform, glasses, and braids ALL the time o.o) which sort of screams two things 1) some predetermined day (probably by unwritten shoujo manga laws) she'll lose the dowdy look and become more beautiful than her sisters and the snooty clique at her school and 2) she lacks clue or something like that. ^^;; Feb/01 issue of Asuka had a reference that Kanoko was the "beauty" taming Houjou-sensei the "beast" ^^;; which I guess is sort of true...
Billion Girl is one of those great shoujo manga plot twists where the story needs to be read after taking a grain of salt (some of the plot points are sort of unrealistic but oh well...) and some of the plot points are just great. Houjou-sensei is a slightly untypical bishounen (he gets 5 O'clock shadows =D).
[Billion Girl vol 1 should be out by now, but if its not then it should be out with in the next 2 months. It currently runs in the magazine Asuka.
Fruitbasket vol 1-3
I just picked up this series today but from skimming the first 3 volumes its already addictive. Emi notes in her page "Random Shoujo Manga" that the cover art for Fruitbaskets is a turn off. I agree. The covers don't do the inside art justice. Check out her page for the summary/review of Fruitbaskets. ^^ Personally I like Yuki-kun more than Kyou-kun. Maybe its because he's more quiet and turns into a mouse! =D
Notes/News:
I also got a 6 month subscription for LaLa. I almost got one for Hana to Yume but I think my guilt got to me. ^^;;
Ruri's Wish list:
Supersonic Angel Engine - wooooooo! Go trippy art! Cross Oneself 5 - Grrrrrrr Kino
Billion Girl 1 - Woooooo I want to know if my speculations about the first few chapters are right. ^^
Haruka Toki no Nakade, Tora ware no ue, Kanta Kara, LaLa3
News:
I'm also adding the ISBN/publisher/author info at the bottom of the manga entries if anybody wishes to know them. ^^
Notes:
I really should get a subscription for LaLa ^^;; I love all the stories that run in it, Kanata Kara, Haruka toko no naka de, KareKano, Mekakushi no Kuni, etc. The only other time I liked more than 3 stories in a mag was probably Ribon. ^^ Anyways as the url above hints, I picked up LaLa 2, Asuka 2, and Hana to Yume 2 and a pair of manga. ^^
LaLa 2 - I love LaLa the only problem is that it makes me want to get all the manga that runs in it! ^^;; Also the fact that Kanata Kara runs every other month @_@. But aside from that this month's KareKano ep (summary by DiDi ^^ arigatou!) makes the Kazuma*Tsubasa arc drawnout and long. Not that that is a bad thing but it sort of makes the tension sort of stale. ^^;;; Mekakushi no Kuni is getting better with a new character (the Class President)coming in and toying with the Kanade*Arou relationship. Well not really ^^; Kanade has a vision of the future and it's about the Class President admiting her feelings to Arou-kun. Kanade is worried about what will happen if she doesn't do anything and vice versa. Namiki-kun worries about Kanade and its one big love-polygon. ^^ Haruka toki no Naka de gets more interesting as I get more chapters of it. Its definitely a manga that I need to get the first volume of to understand the later chapters. ^^;;; But its interesting anyways, I keep wondering what's up with the butterflies and the characters. ^^;;
Hana to Yume 2 - HanaKimi - The first thing after the ads in the front is a beautiful 2 page spread of Sano and Mizuki (in a dress ^^) holding hands! (Emi gasped when she saw it ^^;;) Its another chapter about Mizuki and Sano. ^^ (I liked the Umeda-sensei side story-arc but in the end I am a M&S fan ^^;;) and this chapter does not disappoint. Tension between Sano and Mizuki get more intense. Mizuki has a dream about the almost kiss scene she had with Sano. Just looking at the pictures (^^;;) its obvious that the scene affected both of them (in different ways). Sano sort of looks resigned, its obvious how much he cares for her (waiiii *^^*). Ummm any more and I'll end up summarizing the story ^^;; In the end Sano gets confronted by Nakatsu. He asks Sano what he thinks of Mizuki. ^^ (wooo if that's not a plot device...)^^ WJuliet and Yami no Matsuei also ran in this issue and I'll probably read it after I come down from HanaKimi cloud 9. ^^
Asuka 2 - This month's X chapter has of course the infamous scene between Subaru and Kamui. Not to get into great detail but its pretty much Subaru's initial dealings with the fact that Seishirou is gone. (Speculations of Subaru switching sides to replace Seishirou's place is floating around. ^^;;) Mikan no Tsuki begins with a bang, with Misoka falling off a building and Nozomu catching him. Mahiru runs to meet up with her friends (this is after overhearing something bad at Club Moonshine in Asuka 1. Mahiru ends up returning to her original home.) The "crew" escape from the "mononoke killers" with a much needed gem with Misoka and Mahiru. To be honest the story is now picking up pace. ^^ Akira still pines for Keiko (the Miko of the "mononoke killers"). -- Bu-ri-o-n ga-ru "Brion Girl(?)" One of the stories that I follow in Asuka is actually a stange story about a girl named Kanoko-chan who ends up living with this rich-slightly egotistical guy. (who looks quite bishy and Jrock-y ^^) She ends up cleaning for him and taking care of him. In return he protects her (in a weird sort of "she's mine" sort of way o.o) in the end I think there's a relationship brewing between the two. ^^ Its rather cute. I'll probably reread all the chapters tonight. Preetia also runs in this issue of Asuka. ^^
Toraware no minoue vol 1&2 (Hana to Yume) - I had seen the cover of vol 2 a few months ago and liked it but I put it back for something else. I forgot the cover and the title until I picked up again today. ^^ Its actually a cool manga about a girl named Suzuka who returns to Japan. Suzuka lost her parents and lives in her house (read: mansion) with her father's butler and his son Megumi. Megumi immediately becomes her protector and calls her hime (princess) ^^;; Its cute. I think the title translates into To Be Caught in Personal Circumstances (but I could be wrong ^^;; I was never good at conjugation of any language). Which sort of describes the manga story quite well. Vol 1 goes into how Suzume is being chased after by prospective husbands while Megumi tries to keep them away from her. Vol 2 actually goes into some of Suzume's past and how she was kidnapped. Oh and Megumi's father is hilarious. ^^ I'm definitely keeping an eye out for the rest of this manga series. (Info:ISBN: vol 1: 4-592-17743-6; vol 2: 4-592-17768-1, Publisher: Hana to Yume, Author: Hino Matsuri [it might be under Hino Maturi])
Steph's Wish List
Toraware no minoue vol 3-? - Go Megumi! Go Suzume!
HanaKimi 14 - Go Sano! Go Mizuki!
Prion Girl - It should be out soon. ^^;
LaLa 3 - Its got the next chapter of KareKano. ^^
Cross Oneself 5 - Kino grrrrrr!
News:
I love Magic Knight Rayearth. ^^ I especially love Lantis! But the focus of this layout is mostly Zagato. This layout took forever to make. Mostly because I'm not that good with tables. ^^;;
I also archived which is why the entry is so short. ^^;; If Emi ever updates her Random Shoujo manga page there will be some new summaries. Among them are two summaries I did on the series Preetia and Mekakushi no Kuni. Look for those when she updates. A Mikan no Tsuki summary should follow too. ^^
Now for random manga notes:
HanaKimi vol. 12&13 - I don't know why I keep reading HanaKimi 12-13 (or 10-13 for that matter) I guess its because (imho) its where the best interaction between Mizuki and Sano are. ^^ I reread vol 1 this morning and found that their relationship is like night and day from vol 1 to vol 13. ^^
Mikan no Tsuki Vol 1-3 - I should be working on vol 1 summaries for this series for my MnT page. ^^;;
Supersonic Angel Engine - Fantasy DX - I had this listed in my wish list but never really described what it was. From the chapters I have in Fantasy DX its about two high school students. One always wears goggles and a face mask. I think its because he knows the secret behind the "monsters" (or aliens o.o) that masquerade as students. His friend and he pretty much go and fight the monsters. ^^;; Its a weird manga and the art is not "pretty" its very clean lines and heavy on the shadow. I like it because its so weird. ^^
Kagerou Nostalgia in GanGan Wing 1 - I forgot I had this on the shelf. Infact I forgot about it over the holidays. ^^
Steph's Wish List:
HanaKimi - More! More! More!
Kagerou Nostalgia vol 3 - This should be out by now. ^^
Supersonic Angel Engine - This manga should be out but I think its too uncommon for SF Kino to get it in. ^^;;
I returned from my lovely but very tiring trip to Southern Cali. Not only did I return with lots of debating skill but with a pile of manga too. =D
Mekakushi no kuni vol 3 - I found this in the Asahiya right next to Mandrake. Mandrake was running low on the things I wanted but I found this beauty in the store next door and bought it! I love Mekakushi no kuni. If anybody has any information about the series I'd love to know more!
Oishi Kankei vol 5-8 - In retrospect I should have bought every volume of this series at Mandrake. Oishi Kankei is about Momoe and her quest to be a chef. Her goal is to make food that makes people happy.
Angelique vol 1 & 2 - I have newer chapters of this series floating around in my copies of Fantasy DX. Its rather interesting considering that 10 bishonen wander around this series. (Doujinshi warning bells ring in my head when I read this manga ^_^;;;)
DokiDoki - I bought it because of the title (a little superficial but it was a winner in the end!) its a collection of yaoi short stories. ^^
KareKano vol 3 & 4 - Classics! Unfortunately I should have picked up vol 1 & 2 considering my friend Charles "Kuma" walked away with vol 1 and 2 of this series. KareKano is a great series for anybody who wants to start on something other than CCS or Sailor Moon (imho ^^;;;).
Kanata Kara Vol 7 - Yes its a random volume but at its great price of 3.50 I don't argue with the break in the "timeline". Actually this volume is a gem! It sort of dispelled any frustrating angst in the series and it just reaffirmed how cool this series is. ^^
Kenshin Kaden - The book with the "final" color chapter of the Kenshin-gumi. I have a soft spot for Kenshin manga and and the story line.
Ruri's Wish List:
Kanata Kara vol 2-6, 8-11
Angelique vol 3-?
See Below ^^