Manga Review: Behind the Scenes!!, Volume 1, by Bisco Hatori

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2, 2016

Volumes: 3+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ranmaru Kurisu comes from a family of hardy, rough-and-tumble fisher folk, and he sticks out at home like a delicate, artistic sore thumb. It’s given him a raging inferiority complex and a permanently pessimistic outlook. Now that he’s in college, he’s hoping to find a sense of belonging. But after a whole life of being left out, does he even know how to fit in?!

It’s two months into Ranmaru’s college career, and if he’s learned one thing, it’s that he’s really uncomfortable around other people. But when he stumbles into a zombie mob attack, he’s forced out of his comfort zone in the most dramatic way possible! Of course it’s just a movie shoot, but when he wakes up from his ignoble faint, he’s been whisked away behind the scenes with the Art Squad! Could this group of weirdoes be what Ranmaru’s been looking for all his life?!

Review:

There was absolutely no way that I wasn’t going to pick this book up. And given my utter love for Ouran, there was no way that I wasn’t going to love it.

So it’s no surprise that I do.

Despite the author’s attempts, the set-up is quite similar to Ouran. It's still a club setting, with the main character getting pulled into it by accident, only now they're in college. But the cast of characters are rather different. Our main one, in particular. The artwork is nice, too, now that Hatori has grown so much.

Ranmaru has huge self-esteem issues. From growing up and causing problems and being blamed for everything, he believes everything is his fault. He’s terrified of everything. When he stumbles into the drama clubs set, he’s terrified of backlash, but is somehow pulled into helping them out. And surprisingly, they find out that he has a talent for fixing things and crafting.

There’s the leader of the group, a powerful leader who takes charge and manipulates. There’s a pretty boy, a previous thug, a horror fanatic, and a pretty girl who does the costumes. I do like all the costumes and the work they all put into the makeup and sets and everything behind the scenes for the films. 

Seriously, I’m already in love with this series. I want more, right now.         

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, Volume 5, by Maki Minami

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 3, 2014

Volumes: 12

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hime Kino's dream is to one day do voice acting like her hero Sakura Aoyama from the Lovely ? Blazers anime, and getting accepted to the prestigious Holly Academy's voice actor department is the first step in the right direction! But Hime's gruff voice has earned her the scorn of teachers and students alike. Hime will not let that stand unchallenged. She'll show everyone that she is too a voice acting princess, whether they like it or not!!

Hime's producer Yamada has decided to let her have some time off for good behavior, so he sets up a trip to a lake for her and the rest of the Stragglers. But will Hime ruin the vacation when her idea of a fun time turns out to be a bust?!

Review:

Sadly, this volume had a lack of Senri Kudo, but it was still its usual hilarious, crazy goodness. Given how much Senri was in the last couple volumes, it makes sense. We needed to see the other characters again. Still, I missed him.

I mean, the extras at the end focused on him, but that wasn’t enough for me.

The first chapter we saw Hime with her school group, on a small vacation. It was a sweet chapter, showing Hime that her friends enjoy spending time with her just as much as she does with them.

Then the rest of the volume had Hime dressed as Shiro to work on the television show. There was a lot of Mizuki, who is clearly starting to feel strongly for Hime, as well as Fujimori, who hates Mizuki. Hime/Shiro had to play the go-between for them, given that their characters in the show like each other, and Fujimori has a hard time acting that.

Fujimori is now starting to like Shiro, who he thinks is actually a boy. He’s reluctant, but he’s also not completely denying that to himself. That’s one part that I think is well done—the stereotype of Hime pretending to be a boy isn’t really a thing for her. She doesn’t worry about actually acting like a boy, or changing her voice. She’s still naïve, touching people and holding hands to support the others, smiling and laughing. She doesn’t even think about acting manly or whatever. She’s just herself, whether she’s a girl or a boy. And Fujimori is falling for her, even if he thinks she’s a boy. I appreciate that.

There was also a bonus chapter at the end focusing on Ume and Takanagi. Takanagi has decided to help Ume find her prince. It hasn’t gone very well so far, but I’m enjoying seeing their relationship develop. It’s going slowly, but I’m looking forward to it going even farther.

This is a great series. It’s definitely hilarious, I'm loving it,and I’m excited for the next volume.

Manga Review: Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, Volume 4, by Maki Minami

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April, 2014

Volumes: 12

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hime Kino's dream is to one day do voice acting like her hero Sakura Aoyama from the Lovely Blazer anime, and getting accepted to the prestigious Holly Academy's voice actor department is the first step in the right direction! But Hime's gruff voice has earned her the scorn of teachers and students alike. Hime will not let that stand unchallenged. She'll show everyone that she is too a voice acting princess, whether they like it or not!!

After days of grueling training at Yamad's special voice acting retreat, Hime can finally bring forth her prince voice! Now she's ready to start her next job as a recurring character in an exciting new anime. But her first day on the set doesn't go as she'd hoped. Why do her costars and the producers seem to hate her when they just met her?!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.

Review:

This series is just… it’s crazy and adorable. Those are the best adjectives I can think of to describe it, and I’m loving it.

There are hi-jinks happening with Hime and her voice acting, and with the Aqua boys. Her manager is a bit hard on her, but helpful. Hime has such a positive attitude, and I really appreciate that. She has a problem with her voice acting, and the crew don’t like her, but she deals with that admirably. She uses it as motivation to work harder, and takes the advice she’s given. I particularly like that she is getting better, and is moving forward in her career.

Now I get to talk about Kudo. I love him. He is adorable, he is so cute, and I just love him so much. Hime, as her boy counterpart Shiro, visits him a few times in this volume, and I love each one. I even felt like squealing during one scene in particular. He is adorable, and she is just so oblivious, even as she realizes how he works. I also really like their conversation about cats, how devoted he is to them and how well he understands each one, but maybe that's just because of my love for cats.

There is just so much grinning and laughing while reading this series. I am utterly enjoying it, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one.

Novel Review: Faking It (Losing it, #2) by Cora Carmack

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: HarperCollins (William Morrow)

Publish Date: June, 2013

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

Something Specific:
Quotes: 

• "Looking at him, I knew this wasn’t the kind of fear that sent you running for the hills. It was the kind of fear that made people jump off cliffs and climb from mountains—the kind of fear that told you something miraculous was waiting at the end of it, if you could only get there.” (Pg. 65)
• "There was a beat. Another one of those moments when the winds shifted, time turned, and life started again in a new direction.” (Pg. 184-185)
• "'Living is hard. And every day our feet get heavier and we pick up more baggage. So, we stop and take a breath, close our eyes, reset our minds. It’s natural. As long as you open your eyes and keep going.’” (Pg. 190)
• "'The world holds money over everyone’s head. It’s a fact of life.’” (Pg. 274)

Quotes pertaining to female/male gender roles and whatnot that I liked:

• "I’d gotten my heart broken by my best friend, and now everyone tiptoed around me like I was on the verge of a meltdown, like a girl with PMS. Apparently having emotions equated to having a vagina.” (Paperback, pg. 7)
• "'Because you’ve got balls of steel.’ I hated when people said that, like it was assumed strength and being a male were synonymous. There was strength in being a woman.” (Pg. 49-50)

The Cover:

I really like the cover of this book. It's embarrassing, sure, but it's also really cute, and fitting. It's giving the right feel of the book: that's it's a romantic NA, lighthearted story. Plus, the models actually resemble what I imagine the characters look like, and I really appreciate that.

Review:

This book surprised me. I was expecting to like it a lot, and I did, but it still surprised me.

I wasn’t expecting there to be alternating points of view, for one. I don’t know why, but I’m really glad that there were, if only because I really like multiple points of view.

I liked both of the characters, a lot. There’s Max, the heroine, who’s in a band with a friend and her current boyfriend, whose parents don’t know anything about who she really is and want to believe that she’s still the good, cheerleading girl that her sister was and she used to be. But she’s not, and she tries her best by trying to hide her hair color and tattoos and job and current boyfriend from them when they surprise her with a visit.

Which is when she ropes Cade into being her pretend boyfriend. The boy she meets in the coffee shop before they come in. Cade is in love with a friend of his, a friend who has a loving boyfriend and who is doing a lot of good things in her life. Cade is in college, and he’s an actor, and he’s a good boy, even if sometimes he’s kind of not.

Max is fun, and she’s having problems with her family, which are understandable and I totally felt that, and liked reading how that all turned out for her. I understood Cade’s fixation on the girl he lost (although I probably would understand more, had I read the first book in the series first), and I really wanted him to move on. And I liked his progression to getting over her and falling for Max.

I generally just liked Max and Cade’s relationship. They’re fun together, they’re hot together, and they work really well together. They’re very similar, and yet even the other one out really well. I loved their relationship together, as well as their growing on their own, and their relationships with their friends.

The writing was good, the story was really easy to read and kept me wanting to read more. I haven’t had the chance to pick up any of Carmack’s other books, and really only ended up with this one by chance, but I’m hoping to get more soon. This one was really, really good, and Carmack has definitely been added to my list of authors to collect/follow.