All the hidden villages are united in a war against the Akatsuki, which means people from different villages are teamed up together and need to learn to work with each other. The teams find themselves fighting Kabuto's reanimated puppets, and some of the battles are bitter – for example, Sai must fight his brother, and Kakashi finds himself facing off against Zabuza and Haku. Meanwhile, Naruto is continuing to train with Killer Bee, unaware that all of this is going on.

I have less that 20 volumes to go before I'm done with this series. I've been reading it for so long that it feels like I need to make it to the finish line, but this volume made me wonder if I'm going to be able to manage it.

Part of the problem is that it's been so long since I read the volumes prior to this one. The result was confusion – so many characters I either didn't know or could barely remember. Personally, I think Kishimoto is better at depicting one-on-one battles than large-scale wars. I miss the days of reading extended battles that were really just an excuse to reveal characters' thoughts and emotions and to maybe throw in a flashback or two. It should have been a more emotional experience, seeing characters I knew and loved, like Haku and Zabuza, reanimated and forced against their will to fight. Instead, I had to struggle to feel anything. There was just too much going on.

I continued to dislike Killer Bee's efforts to rap all his lines. I can't wait until Naruto is finally done training with him, because I would like him to go away. Why does such an annoying character have to be so important?

I'll wrap this up with a quickie comment about the jutsu Kabuto used to reanimate people. We're told that it can't be broken, even with the caster's death, and yet

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Wild Kiss by Hisaya Nakajo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read on August 22, 2014, read count: 1

Since it was short, the plots are rushed. At first I thought it was a Yaoi but it was actually a shonen-ai. Artwise, it was okay but nothing impressive.

By the way, Hisaya Nakajo is also the mangaka of Hana Kimi or Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom) the famous shoujo manga series.


~ This full color spread artwork is pretty nice tho. This is what caught my attention and interest. I do love cute and small-size ukes.


* Reviewed on 23rd August, 2014

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[ANIME] Kono Danshi, Ningyo Hiroimashita. (This Boy Caught a Merman)

I've just watched this new shounen-ai anime of a lonely sad boy saved by a merman when he fell into the sea. I think it was heartfelt and really sweet. The graphic was pleasing and also artfully done. Definitely worth watching.

                  Just look at the beautiful colours:

                  (sorry bout the lousy resolution of this picture kay)

              Isaki-san is just too cute. I want a merman in my living room too!

Synopsis:

They say look before you leap and make sure you can swim before you go in the deep water, but when a picture of his late grandfather falls into the ocean, Shima jumps in after it without thinking. Nearly drowning as a result, he is instead saved by a very perfect stranger... one whose strangeness extends to only being human from the waist up! For Shima, who's always felt like a fish out of water himself, it's more than just a revelation, and the young man and merman quickly begin to bond in ways neither anticipated. And yet, it's going to be far from easy sailing. After all, Shima and Isaki aren't just from opposite sides of the tracks, they're from entirely divergent species, and swimming in separate gene pools may make maintaining a long term relationship a whole different kettle of fish!   

Source: Sentai

Plot Summary:

 

Shima has always strove to be an excellent obedient child to his parents and to others, but in the process he could never be himself. Because of this he has always felt lonely, even with all the people who say they love him. When the picture of his recently deceased grandfather falls into the ocean, Shima nearly drowns jumping in after it. He is quickly saved by a mysterious man. In a daze Shima confesses his loneliness to the stranger, who then vows to stay by Shima's side for as long as he needs him. Shima quickly finds out that this stranger is a merman. Shima takes him home, and names him Isaki. Isaki and Shima quickly become friends, but find out that their feelings for each other might go past that of friendship.

 

- Credit: Anime News Network

(spoiler show)

3.5 Stars for this angsty brotherly romance.

As usual, I appreciate abundance of angst in my stories and this one was at it from the start till the end.

The brotherly love between Yutaka and Minoru was really endearing. The angst are mostly the pair of brothers battling with their own more-than-brothers affection towards one another. It is an incestuous story but it does not involves..

So this is just shonen-ai instead of yaoi.

Since they both are suffering from deep brother complex, there are times when I would question if they truly loves each other as lovers or it was only a misinterpretation of strong siblings love? They themselves was pretty confused on this as well.

As for the artwork, it was pretty nice although some might complain Yutaka looks like a girl. He's still a teenager anyways. On the other hand Minoru does looked really young here much like a high schooler despite being a 26 years old man. Then again asian guys tends to look younger than their age and the years would only begin to show in their late 30s.

All things considered, this is a decent shonen-ai manga and was fairly engaging.

I was definitely ready to get my hands on this volume after the ending of the last one. I never know when it’s going to be the end because there are so many false alarms. At this point, I’m just going to keep assuming that Sebastian will somehow get them out of trouble and they’ll live.

This volume picks up where the last one left off with Sebastian’s cinematic record. It follows with an Easter-themes filler chapter. The last chapter begins the next story arc, in which Ciel starts attending an English academy.

It was interesting to see some of the past with Sebastian an Ciel. I liked that part. When that ended and the Easter chapter started, I was just bored. This is what I don’t like about mangas that get so popular. They tend to do “special” chapters just to please the fans with funny. I just feel like that particular chapter was ill-placed in this volume. It totally disinterested me and I actually put the volume aside for a few days. Anyway, the new story arc might turn out to be interesting. It’s definitely going to change it up a bit. That couldn’t hurt since we’re on volume 14.

I recommend this one with reservations. You pretty much have to read it to get to the next one so…