Book Review: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You 

by Ally Carter

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

Personal Fave Punch: “I looked around and thought, Oh, yeah, I can see why I'd be tough to spot. I was sitting on a bench in plain sight.”
Movement/Mood after reading: Resisting to pick-up the next book.
Bit on Bits: FUN and CUTE read, with slight family issues.

This was the first YA book I read last year and I was so happy with it that I started reading more from the genre. I was a bit apprehensive that I might find it annoying and a waste of my time. Good thing I felt the need for something new and that I picked a book by Ally Carter.

Review: Ghost Hunt

*excited*

GHOST HUNT 

ゴーストハント 

Gōsuto Hanto 

Originally written by Fuyumi Ono

Anime Number of Episodes: 25 Directed by: Rei Mano Studio: J.C. Staff Run: October 3, 2006 – March 27, 2007 Soundtrack: 35 tracks by Toshio Masuda Rating:

Manga Volumes: 12 (completed) Mangaka: Shiho Inada Publisher: Kodansha (English: Del Rey, Tanoshimi) Run: 1998 -2006 Rating:

I'm falling into a monotony: I'm loving the genre I'm reviewing way too much. Just two more of these and I promise I'll change theme.

That said, I enjoyed Ghost Hunt. So much that instead of just reading the manga, I got hold of the anime. I'm thinking I would have loved reading the light novel series, too. (And would have given a perfect rating.)

The final volume (translated) of the manga was hard for me to find that when I saw an online source (I don't think there's an officially translated one), I decided to just get on with it and finish the story. I'm so happy I did. Finally, I got answers to most of my questions. MOST.

Ghost Hunt starts off with Mai Taniyama, a highschool girl fond of telling ghost stories, stumbling into a psychic investigation by Kazuya Shibuya. She is forced by Shibuya-san, who she then calls Naru for his narcissism, into taking Lin Koujo's, the assistant, work when he gets injured. They are later joined by the other characters. They all start working together on cases under Naru's company, Shibuya Psychic Research, as the series continues.

There are minor differences in the adaptations but the anime doesn't stray from the manga. However, I felt adjustments in the characters that warranted a heart off the anime. Mai, Yasuhara and Monk-san were funnier in the manga. Well, that and because the anime's more intent to go with the creepy atmosphere while the manga has more funny quirks.

(Named the other characters in the very last picture, at the very bottom of the post. Chibi picture, that is.)

Kazuya "Naru" Shibuya, Mai Taniyama

Score cards, up!

Story: 

Anime: 7/10

Manga: 9/10

JDrama Review: 100 Tales of Horror

1, 2, 3... shall we start?

By the way, no. It's not a hundred-episode drama. Don't want to tempt fate and actually invoke a spirit at the hundredth now, do we? I'm not sure I want to see a Sadako-like creature crawling out my screen.

		100 Tales of Horror Kaidan Hyaku Monogatari  怪談百物語 Episodes:11 Broadcast: 2002, Tuesdays, Aug-13 to Dec-03 Network: Fuji TV Directors: Kawake Shunsaku Hayashi Toru Kobayashi Kazuhiro Tsuruta Norio Tajima Daisuke	Rating:

Period drama = samurai, geta, andon and no-wind-can-ruin-my-hair. Those plus a touch of eeriness and I'm sold.

Kaidan Hyaku Monogatari is a collection of some of the most popular “ghost tales” from Japan. The title is from a popular game where people take turns telling supernatural stories and extinguishing a candle after each. As the room gets darker and darker, the atmosphere becomes more inviting for spirits to join in. It is believed that after the last candle is put-out, spirits present will be seen if they are willing. That's putting it mildly considering some say ancient samurai loved using the game as a test of courage. *smirk*

The 11 stories feature a central character played by Naoto Takenaka, who I found absolutely commendable. He can really act the part of Dosan, an onmyouji. He, together with his daughter and, in some episodes, his disciple Jinta, finds himself involved or a witness in the stories.

<3 

Though the tales are popular, the re-telling here put some very nice twists. Some became more cruel, some became more sentimental. I found them more endearing than most adaptations.  

Rolling-in my list of stuff that captured my attention... I'll assume the stories are already familiar so the following shouldn't really be considered spoilers. I think.

Hell is Waiting (or at least a soul-shredder)

Shotaro in Ugetsu Monogatari

My main problem with him is nobody forced him to marry Isora AND to swear to heavens he'll take care of her forever, but he did both...and then he replaced her with another woman. After all her sacrifices, he left because he accuses Isora of faking her kindness and making his lover leave, without telling him. Yeah,she should've made a letter to what she did. Pssh. There are major differences here compared to the other versions of Pot at Kibitsu I've read before and one of those is that they made Shotaro more relatable with his struggle between doing good and doing what makes him a jerk, I mean happy. As much as I value fidelity, I rarely hate a person for deciding to leave. Here, I hated Shotaro. I didn't understand how his weakness overtook him when his wife is portrayed loving and kind..even to his mistress.

Anime Review: Le Portrait de Petit Cossette

♪♫♪ ...Keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding in love. ♪♫♪

The whole experience of watching this anime for me was, in one word, disturbing. Yet, with all of what didn't seem right, I loved it.

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette (コゼットの肖像) Kozetto no Shōzō Number of Episodes: 3 Directed by: Akiyuki Shinbo Studio: Daume Released: April 11, 2004 Soundtrack: 18 tracks by Yuki Kajiura

Rating:

I usually watch popular/mainstream anime because they're easier to come by. But because this one had been in my list of recommendations for so long, I picked-up Cossette. It is a first for me to watch a gothic anime despite my love for creepy things. However, it surprised me of how amazed I was with the atmosphere of the story.

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is about Eiri Kurahashi and his obsession (or love, as romantics prefer) to a  female ghost, who, he believes, is haunting a wineglass in the antique shop he works in. There, he sees the girl's life unfold as if it was the present. Eiri later finds out that her name is Cossette d'Auvergne. It later becomes more obvious that loving Cossette is not so simple. The soul of her former fiance and beloved, the artist Marcello Orlando, is linked to Eiri's soul. This should've been a cause for celebration. Unfortunately, it isn't... because Marcello was also Cossette's murderer.

Some argue that the art is ugly but I was left admiring it. My favorites were the scenes where they played with the angles and the light and shadows. I kept thinking of how awkward the flow of characters' movements were at first. But as I took in the story, I realized the style was most suitable.

The way the intensity of emotions (as in the grudge and obsession) are presented left me in awe. I didn't find them overly done because those emotions are excessive by definition. I couldn't get enough of the psychedelics.

If there was anything I loved more than the art, it was the music/sound effects. It set the whole mood perfectly. I smiled when Cossette sat down and the whoosh of her skirt was heard. I swooned over the ballad and the ending song.

“Right now,
I want to thaw your heart
With pain instead of gentleness”
--Jewel

The only thing that held back a heart was the Character-ensemble. Well, the story is simple so there's no room for them to do anything more interesting. I even hated Shoko in the...nevermind. I didn't like her ever. As tragic as the plot is, the anime is something that could've occupied only two days of your life. So beyond the Eiri-Cossette relationship,substance from the other characters might have been confusing. The anime centered on Eiri and Cosette's interaction and everything else was paid little attention.

Maybe I didn't rate Le Portrait de Petit Cossette the way I ordinarily rate anime. I thought of it like a short poem, organized so right that even if it might have been written in broken cadences or without real rhythm, I can't help but say it's beautiful.

Well, Cossette isn't for general audience with all its blood and semi-nudity. It's also not for when you're impatient and looking for some life-changing story. But if you're looking for something haunting and different, this one will do more than satisfy you.