Manga Monday: X-Day by Setona Mizushiro

In response to the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999, Setona Mizushiro penned X-Day. The story centers on four individuals and their desire to blow up their school. Mizushiro focuses on why a person, or a group would want to destroy an institution, yet not in an accusatory tone. The two volume manga is very sympathetic towards its main characters. Personally the manga is in my home library because of its intention to talk about people battling depression as people and that their desires might be monstrous but does not make them monsters.

The story begins when 11, Polaris, Mr. Money, and Jangalian meet in the school’s online chatroom. They instantly bond over their mutual aversion towards the school as a symbol of their angst, and later meet up in a different chat room. There is where they first discuss blowing up the school, but it is filed away as they all become close friends online. Yet when one of them tries to commit suicide, they are forced to meet each other face to face and their discussion of blowing up the school turns into a plan. X-Day is when their plans will come fruition, but until then they plan and try to live through their depression, anxiety, abuse and insecurity.

Each character has their own reasons for their misfortune. 11 is semi-popular, a senior, and a former member of the track team. 11 is trying to keep hold of a mask of happiness and aloofness which hides a growing insecurity of being easily replaced on the team and in romantic relationships. Polaris feels restricted by the school’s uniform and adopts a mousy personality. Polaris fades into the background and is tired of being overlooked. Jangalian is trying to avoid unwanted and psychotic romantic advances, and Mr. Money wants to be useful to somebody, anybody. They all feel a level of adversity to their peers but no murderous intent. Instead they focus their grievances on the school itself holding it as the symbol of their struggles and misery. They do not want to hurt anyone yet want to be rid of the symbol. So each character struggles more with living until X-Day arrives.

Mizushiro shows complex character development with their struggles between destruction and perseverance. Unfortunately the story is only two volumes long, nine chapters in total with the last two having an urgency to wrap up the story. Polaris and Jangalian make a huge mistake with dire consequences, yet instead of elaborating on the subject, the issue is wrapped up with a slap on the wrist and a wag of the finger. It did not seem to fit with all the other issues that were presented and it seemed more that there was not enough time to explore it.

X-Day has no anime adaptation, but I you like the story I suggest watching Shitsuren Shokoraite roughly translated to Heartbroken Chocolatier. It’s a Japanese Live Action dramatization of Mizushiro’s manga of the same name.

Pick up X-Day at a Half Price Bookstore or any other second hand booksellers. I was owned by the defunct TOKYOPOP Publishings, which also owned: Marmalade Boy, Peach Girl, Kare Kano, Saint Seiya, Paradise Kiss, and Sailor Moon.

The two volume manga is 3 out of 5 stars for presenting sympathetic characters, engaging story-line and beautiful artwork. 

Two Months Hiatus!

So in Internet land being gone for months is the equivalent of dropping off the face of the earth. How do I explain myself? Well...

Life came at my door one night in April to give me a list of demands. If I did not follow these demands, life had no choice but ruin me.

The Nerd Girl will Return in August! New Books, New Time! New Attitude.

10.) The Buckled Bag by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Mary Roberts Rinehart is known for as the “American Agatha Christie,” even though her first mystery novel was published forty years before her brutish counterpart. Thusly I believe Christie had the advantage of the change in styling and times, as her mysteries are easier for this Nerdette to read through, yet Rinehart was painstakingly slow and dull. These are the only crimes against “The Buckled Bag,” with great attention to detail, a truly baffling mystery but can be and is dull. The details are finite on the background which lend little to the clues, and the pacing is slow made for readers who are ready to submerge themselves into the plot. To the story’s credit, it is short only 89 pages long.

Candid: Book Haul and Power Trip

Candid Nerdette: Book Haul!!!

With the tragedy in Boston, I am having trouble focusing on my reading and reviews. For this Nerdy girl, the attention and devastation is similar to the 9/11 attacks and it always blankets my moods in dark. So to uplift myself I spent the whole day with my mother doing what I was trained to do since childhood. SHOP! And of course, knowing your lovable Nerd-Girl I went to my local "Goodwill" shops, and "Salvation Army."

To expand my library and save money, I often peruse thrift shops for out of print, hard to find, or just neat additions. in the past I would come home with bags of finds of my favorite authors, yet as I had changed my promise to my husband to "go easy" on the books alas I only found three.

Johanna Lindsey - The Heir - Romance

I fell in love with Lindsey's romances in high school when I checked out a novel from my local library, (They were never in the school library due to the sex scenes, which had saddened me ) I can't remember the title of the book, but I do know that it was about a young woman who time travels to the Viking Age and meets her roguish Viking whom she gets to keep! Yummy! The Heir though is a little more sophisticated or at least I believe it is as the cover does not have a bare chested Adonis with a fragile damsel embracing him with a face of pure ecstasy. (As I was writing the sentence I googled the cover and DID find a bare chested man. I guess the publishers class up the hardcovers. Who knew?) The Heir though is the first in the Reid Series.

Nicholas Sparks - The Guardian - Literature/Love Story

He's not a romance writer, though he writes about love and a romance. He escapes being pigeonholed and is known for bringing his characters to a tragic end. I watched adaptation of his movies before I discovered he was a writer. He's not one of my favorites but something about his craftsmanship on the story inspires me as I write. I am determined to have his all of his published works. (Dear John and Last Song were better as a novel, but I cannot resist Channing's ...well everything.)

The Reef - Nora Roberts - Romance

I love this writer to death! I just cannot get enough of Nora Roberts or her stories. She makes her female leads with a strong character and does not ignore the fact that they are women as well. Her men are practical and realistic, not the white knight on the high horse, but a partner for their lover. So far she not disappointed me, yet I still have 400 books to go.

Current Fiction and Sneak Peak of what Nerdette is Reading : Power Trip by Jackie Collins

The Raunchy Moralist has returned with another story about the Rich and Powerful and what happens when you are to naughty. POWER TRIP follows the passengers of a yacht, The Russian Billionaire and his Super Model Mistress, A Cheating Congress man and his Doll like unhappy wife, A former soccer star and his interior designer wife, A famous Latin Singer and his bitchy British Boyfriend, and a journalist and his Asian Human Activist date. As they all sail the seas, waves of drama erupt on board as everyone is somehow connected to each other. The story is comes to a head as pirates show up with revenge on their mind. I'm enjoying the novel as I usually do of Collin's works.

 

 

 

 

9.) The Tycoon's Revenge by Melody Anne (I'm BACK!)

                Romance the genre has guidelines to plot development. The first is for the story to be centered on the heroine, often the protagonist, and the hero, her love interest and the relationship that blossoms in the story. Secondly and most important is for the couple to meet a happy and satisfying ending. The second of the requirements is what keeps Nicholas Spark’s novels out of the romance genre and mainly viewed as a love story which is a part of general literature. So with only two guidelines an author or authoress has free range to incorporate them. J.R. Ward a paranormal romance writer has even made her one of her main hero in her series bisexual and getting over his past love with a man by being with a woman. It is something different that usually captures readers new and young, but traditional like Nora Roberts creating strong sensible males and females but twist a different plot can still be effective. However with Melody Anne’s “The Tycoon’s Revenge” follows the formula so much so that leaves the plot predictable, and the juvenile antics of her characters caused them to be one note. Though I am not sure whether I am just jaded by all the romance I have read over the years, where I can see the plot’s destination within three chapters or it is just plain predictable.

            The story centers on Derek Titan, a self-made Billionaire who is plotting revenge for his spurned affections and bruised pride. He successfully in chapter one gains control over the company of his ex-girlfriend’s father. Jasmine Freeman, our heroine is too bitter but not out for revenge for Derek leaving her at the altar without a word from him for years, all she wants is to keep her job in order to take care of her home. She bites her tongue and works with Derek to rebuild the company and along the way rekindle the romance they had once had in their youth.

            Good premise, yet a bad execution. The plot is rushed, with the reader finding out the cause on both sides to leave our main characters feeling betrayed. In first couple of chapters we find out how Derek was betrayed and before that we already learned of Jasmine being abandoned at the altar. This leaves the reader to watch as Derek and Jasmine fall back in love for the rest of the three fourths of the book. For two people who had been betrayed and wounded so deeply they seem to fall back in love and in bed with each other. This has to do with the plot already correcting our villain so early.

            What could have helped the story along would have been a convincing and layered antagonist. Yet his reasons are typical and overplayed with no personal depth. He put a ruse in the young lovers tryst for the reasons that have been done and way better. To add to the injury he is only in the story as foil to our characters romance, which would have been fine if there had been something deeper to the story.

            Our hero is to scale. Derek is perceived by the authoress as a cruel and ruthless business man who only looks forward and never back. (The business of what he does is a little sketchy as it is never really explained what the company does, though that could be overlooked as the main focus is on the romance). His need for revenge is fueled by the pain left on him by Jasmine as well as his prejudices toward the wealthy born. However in the flashback of how she had spurned him, the reader has to question his own character. He did not hear such words from his lover, instead from an informant who has questionable traits even to Derek. Yet with the information he damns all wealthy born women and flees off to plot his revenge. It seems cowardice that he could not wait to confront her, and lazy as a writer to not expand on other possibilities to justify his anger. The unjustifiable rage only cheapens the inevitable reunion and romance which quickly follows, leaving most readers annoyed and tired of his incompetence.

            However Derek’s actions does give Jasmine just cause to be bitter and resentful towards him. In her defense she was left at the altar with no call, letter or message. He disappeared for a long time, yet she knew he was alive not dead from an accident or kidnapped. She cuts her losses and moves on with her life yet retains a secrets which sours her character. The secret though to the reader is not discreet at all. A reader is then left to questions the ethics of Jasmine. She is our protagonist and sure she is susceptible to human flaws but with her moral high ground and her integrity to better that of her lover why would she keep this secret. It makes her seem childish and less developed as to no real explanation is given. Instead the reader and Derek are left with, “You weren’t around, so there seemed no reason to tell you.” Bullshit! If a character, a person claims to love someone and has no idea why he left but their own imaginings would at least make some vain attempt to give him the news!

            At which point I had to calm myself before breaking my iPad. I did not cover the sex scenes which are usually my favorite parts of a romance novel, because they were as formulaic as the plot though they tried to hint of eroticism. Anne had a good premise and popular idea with a Billionaire trying to enact some type of revenge and yet falling into his own trap. The execution though was just rushed and underdeveloped.

            The Tycoon’s Revenge eBook can be found on amazon.com for the kindle and on itunes for apple products. It is fairly inexpensive (unless you don’t have a kindle or apple products then go freely into sweet sweet ignorance) and for a short little romp with not much use in brain power could be enjoyable.

8.) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

            South Carolina 1964 is the beginning of Sue Monk Kidd’s debut novel, “The Secret Life of Bees” during the ever uncomfortable segregation period of America. Lily Owens is a fourteen year old girl living with her dower and somewhat sadist father whom she affectionately refers to as T. Ray rather than father. Haunted and confused about the death of her mother, Lily has no friends other than her surrogate mother, nanny and black woman, Rosaleen. All is quiet and normal in their town until politics and the rights of people are put into questions, Lily decides to change her fate and runaway with Rosaleen, who is targeted by racists to the town Lily believes might connect them to her mother’s misty past. Sue Monk Kidd paints a vivid picture of the horrors of the south and it’s prejudices against African Americans and is the precursor to another famous book about black and white relations, “The Help,” by Kathyrn Stockett. And like the other, Kidd is white. Is this the product of white guilt or is this story one that stands alone as just any other regardless of the authoress skin color.

            The first thing to look at is the major characters; Lily Owens, Rosaleen, August, June, May, and Zach. Lily seems no more than our observer into the African American world as she is a guest in August’s home. Lily and Rosaleen wander into an African American town where white people are scarce and for once Lily is in the minority. She too though has her own prejudices, assumptions but they are changed as she watches the three women and keeping of the bees and business. To Lily, August shows the supreme of wisdom knowing more than her years and shames Lily’s own thoughts on the intelligence of African Americans.  June is equally sophisticated but brings about another part of racism that neither Lily nor most readers would consider. May is the life and laughter of the three and holds the most sorrow but barely as her feeble mind is able. Though simple and kind she not completely ignorant to the world, it is just the opposite. She knows it all and feels it all but like a pitcher with small holes she cannot hold it all in. Zack’s introduction is late but he keeps presence on the page. He befriends Lily regardless of her color and holds some admiration to her. Even less on page but still present is T.Ray, Lily’s bitter father who is still desperately looking for her. He holds the biggest secrets and yet we only see so little of him.

            Neither the characters are written or perceived as stereotypical, at least not in the time period it was written. I could be said that August is like the “Magical Black Woman/Man” who sprinkle wisdom on the poor little white girl as she struggles through her inner conflict. It would be no different than Will Smith’s role in “The Legend of Vance,” where he mentors a white golfer. Whereas Will was figment, August is real but still mentoring Lily as she come of age. Yet June does not warm up to Lily, she is skeptical and downright rude to Lily because of what her skin represents to June and her kind. So does it balance it out?

            I saw the sprinkled subtext and however I was not offended by it. To someone who believed that African American to be limited in intellect and primal, the Calendar Sisters would be at first a shock and later the highest admiration would follow. And for Sue Monk Kidd who had grown up in the south during this troubled period and feeling guilty later as an adult for not engaging in African Americans until her college years, I could see how she would too raise their stature far from the ill conceived sterotype of that era. I enjoyed it for what it was worth…

            I wonder what the movie is like?

7.) Brazen Behavior by Saskia Walker

            After a little hiatus and some well needed rest, this Nerdette is back and ready to finish her reading library, we start right where we left off with Saskia Walker.

            Where “Their Private Arrangement” is more erotic in style and character profile, “Brazen Behavior” is Walker’s more Romance Genre themed and styled in this novella. We are introduced to a head strong heroine who believes she is fully capable of taking on the world without a man, and the traditional man that comes around with his mighty sexual “presence” who shatters her beliefs and also has an enlightened opinion of women of his own. Is this good?

            Eleanor Argyle is of woman of means in the Victorian century and with a modern mind. Though she maybe alone with money, she is still woman enough to travel alone and without a male escort. During the 1800’s being alone on a journey and of the fairer sex was not only dangerous, as it is today, but unseemly. Society is not the only one who believe it improper for Ms. Argyle to be alone, Mr. Gregory Munroe the family’s assistant, friend and employee is sent to escort the young heiress safely to her Aunt and Uncle’s home. Yet our headstrong heroine has her own agenda and will not bend to her beguiling escort. As they out wit each other on this short journey from London to Scotland, Eleanor finds that love does not mean total absolve to a man, and for Gregory that erotic imaginings can happen to those who least expect it.

            Eleanor holds the same traits that I look for in a strong woman character, independent, crafty, and adventurous. She also isn’t a virgin which is also a plus. Like Morag she is used to sex. However the problems I have with her come from the fact that the novella is more of a romance and with the over arching plot. She makes decisions and assumptions too quickly, where the romance has to be threatened by poor communication. When she is disappointed Eleanor turns into the same arch type of the Victorian woman, a creature prone to her moods. Rather than have Gregory explain himself she turns on him with woman irrationality.

            Gregory is not completely faultless in character. Enlightened only to a small degree, he represents all that society believes is right. In the beginning he does not like the fact that Eleanor is alone in her travels, nor is he charmed by her believing she can do whatever she pleases. However he does grow to admire her independent spirit and that is the amount of growth you are going to receive. I will say, because it is a novella We as reader shouldn’t expect much growth or the shortness of time it happens.
               The story is simple with only the conflict of miscommunication and naiveté. It is was not a romance of substance but it was entertaining. But for this little Nerd, she is leaning on Saskia Walker’s more erotic driven heavy plots.