Afterschool Charisma by Kumiko Suekane

Happy Holidays! 

I hope most of you school-going readers are having a wonderful break. I know I've been enjoying it thoroughly and have started dreading going back to finish my first year of college. :( Anyway, I was going through the series I've reviewed and realized I hadn't reviewed one of my favorite Viz Media series, 'Afterschool Charisma.' Funny thing is, I was quite certain I've reviewed it somewhere before! Nonetheless, here we go, either for the second or first time...

'Afterschool Charisma' is a manga series by Kumiko Suekane, published by Viz Media. It's focused in a school setting at St. Kleio's Academy, except this school isn't filled with your average run of the mill kids. St. Kleio's is a school for clones of noteworthy historical figures, all except for Shiro, who is the main character of the series. After the assassination of the John F. Kennedy clone, the students begin to wonder if they too are destined to repeat the same fate as their originals. Is it a coincidence or can the clones never escape the destiny of their originals? In the midst of the student's worries, Shiro sympathizes with his clone friends, who both love and hate him. The series continues with great suspense, conspiracy, and also a good dose of humor - what can you expect when the likes of Freud, Joan of Arc, Mozart, and Hitler clones all go to the same academy? The series is about to release it's 5th or 6th volume, and some of the chapters can be found online through Viz. I'm quite a fan of this series because history and manga really do make quite a good pair. It has fantastic art, as well as an incredibly interesting plot. Seeing historical figures in teenage manga form is also pretty entertaining. Overall, it's a great series and I highly recommend it! 

Amazingly enough, I don't have any qualms with 'Afterschool Charisma,' despite it's puzzling plot twists as the series continues, but isn't that always the case with manga? :3 That's part of the reason we love it, right? Anyway, off to enjoy more of break! Just wanted to send my regards to the manga/anime world. Now to decide what new anime series I want to start tonight! 

Best,

Pseudonymous Jayne :3

Please, no more live action movies...

Hello all,

Once again, it has been too long since I last wrote. However, after I found out about the new Paradise Kiss live action movie, I really felt the need to complain… I’m not sure how everyone else feels about live action movies; in fact I’m not sure how I feel about them entirely either.

After I watched the Nana and Nana 2 live action movie, I was stoked because I was seeing my favorite characters in people form! The costumes were fantastic and looked just like the comics, and that’s all I cared about. Though, now looking back – live action Japanese movies are like a dream. They seem perfectly perfect and real when you’re watching them, but once you’re done, you realize how many things were off about them. The acting is usually terrible, there are far too many gaps between the dialogues, which are fine in the manga because you’re just looking at panels, but in movie form it’s just bizarre. Perhaps I’m being insensitive, considering they’re foreign films, but I’ve also watched a lot of foreign films – it being my favorite genre- and there’s no reason for them to be so awful.

Anyway, I’ve tried to watch the Death Note live action movie and the Sailor Moon live action shows only to find myself disenchanted with them. When I heard about Paradise Kiss’ release as a live action movie, part of me was freaking out about how great the costumes must look. But this time… I’m not going there. I’m not going to ruin my anime experience with Paradise Kiss. So, I’m here to suggest the same to you. Stick to manga and anime like we usually do!b

That is all.

Hope this rant hasn’t thwarted everyone away from my blog.

<3 Jayne