Okay Kaiju No. 8...I see you.

So I'll be honest the first volume was enjoyable but not amazing. But volume 2 stepped it up in a lot of ways.

See this time we have a little deeper look into the acdemy who recruits and does the work to take out Kaiju. So spending more time with each character really helps. I really started to like Leno who I didn't give much of a shit about in book 1. I even liked Kikoru a lot here, she's badass. And Mina's special sniping attack? Bro...if this gets a good animated team for the anime we are in for a goddamn treat.

The fights are fun, the humor works a lot of the time, and the ending really gave me some big "oh shit anyone can die at any time" vibes and I'm here for it.

A 4.5 out of 5.

A pretty cute start to a short (seems only 3 volume) Yuri love story.

With our main lead she just wants to be a popular high school girl. Who wouldn't? But in doing so she sacrifices maybe a bit of who she is. That is until she begins to catch feelings for a tomboy who just for some reason makes her feel different.

This series jumps back and forth a bit between adult life with the characters at the start and end that make the mystery of why Aoi is missing in the future more intriguing. I'm liking the characters, the art is great, pace is solid. Some of the plot and humor is just okay and typical but overall it's an enjoyable read that'll continue. A 3.5 out of 4 but I'll bump it to a 4 for the art.

This completes the run on Nova from Abnett and Lanning.

I enjoyed this run despite some hiccups. I think Nova is dragged FAR too much into other events and stories. He barely has his own before dragged into the next major event. Sometimes within 3 issues of the last event. I also think that Abnett and Lanning went kind of lazy on the exist here with the whole what if storylines. They can work if you feel you resonate enough with the what if world, but I did not.

Saying that the rest I really enjoyed. Nova becoming a leader, dealing with his family issues, his brother, his new found nova corp, new worldmind, and letting go of the past but keep on moving forward were all well shown here. The fights were fun, the heroic moments badass.

So overall worth a read despite a few issues.

Inuyasha was my second wave in anime.

Guyver/Akira/DBZ/Yu Yu Hakusho were all my gateways into anime. My starter kit as a young 6-8 year old boy is the mid 90's/late 90's. But the second wave of anime wasn't far behind, and thanks to something like cartoon network and Toonami, Inuyasha became a big part of my life along with shows like Zoids, Gundam, FMA, and even a bit later death note.

Inuyasha is a fairy tale of a story. A high school student falls into a well and ends up in a fantasy world where the jewel she's holding has great power. When the demons go to attack her she runs to a man stuck on a tree by a arrow. She unleashes this boy with big wolf ears because, why not, she doesn't want to die.

Inuyasha and Kagome are out main leads here and they work well. First not liking each other at all, with Kagome reminding Inuyasha of the person who shot him into the trip and stuck him there for over 60 years. On the flipside, they have to work together to retrieve the shards otherwise, well, demons will unleash and all hell will break loose.

It's fun stories, mostly self contained, that wrap up within 3-4 chapters. The first half is world building, we also get the great Sesshomaru (Inuyasha's half brother who is full demon) and get to see some great fights there. And of course get to see Kagome handle her daily school life while also being a shard hunter in a fantasy world.

This series was always great for casual fun fantasy style action. However, the manga is a lot Darker than the manga presented. Creatures ripping heads off with their mouths, arms and stomachs getting sliced up, this has a lot more gore and I am all here for it since Takahashi has awesome art along with solid storytelling and GREAT characters.

While this ends right as we meet the VIP (SHIPPO!!!) I can't wait to dive deeper into the world of Inuyasha once more. A 4.5 out of 5.

This finishes up the Cuvitidala arc, and man is it good.

So the last volume ended with the kids trying to escape the bunker. That leaves Lucas and Mister to fend off against the intruders and damn do they do a good job. This is basically gunning each other down till theirs only one possible outcome and one survivor. The second half deals with grief and choices along with moving on.

I really dug this volume a lot. Very fast paced, brutal ending, and worked to shift the series into a serious mood again. I will say the mystery keeps building and more questions keep popping up but that's just how it goes. Excited to jump into the next arc.

A 4 out of 5.

After reading Inuyasha I decided to jump into her newest work Mao, which resembles a lot of Inuyasha's feel and world.

A girl who can travel between two worlds (Sounds familiar?) who meets a mysterious guy who has amazing powers and uses a sword (EHHHHH!?) And this man is able to take down demons while having a demon inside himself? (Come on now!) But in reality this is just a girl who can jump back into time, around the early 1900's.

Overall, it's pretty cool. But kind of just there. I didn't get attached to any of the characters or motivations of why they do what they do. The main lead is cool enough and interesting to see where they go, what their hidden power means, what happened to her family, and so on. But I wasn't fully invested into the storyline of these characters yet, maybe a little bored at times.

A 3 out of 5.

We keep up the big fight from the last book and more!

This time the brother and sister fuse into one omega forced monster. In doing so it takes all 4 warriors to team up, and they couldn't be more different. Of course this series somehow made me like a character I hated till now, and he's a badass in this, doing some of the most stunning fight moves while also giving great character development. The end to this fight actually was happy which I did NOT expect.

We also get our blind badass fighter to finally accept grief and do what he must, which is such a powerful scene and Really well done.


Then we get a little slowdown with explanation of what might be coming. This ends with the arrival of the ninja/samurai group, which I feel is only going to make things much more messy...And I'm here for it.

A 4.5 out of 5.

The first half deals with Sasuke fighting the rapper Bee dude and honestly I don't care lol. This fight is so weird, the stereotype with the black ninja has to be rapping is dumb, and this fight isn't all that intriguing.

Saying that we move on to Naruto training and it's pretty great to see him deal with his grief while getting stronger. I also liked how we just kick it into high gear at the end where Pain begins to attack the village. Finally...we about to get some heat.

This is mostly Zenpachi fighting and it's pretty great, cause this fucking dude is crazy.

Just basically slashing back and forth, blood everywhere, till there's one victor. Thing is, didn't care about the villains. The villains are REALLY weak this arc. None of them are very interesting. But luckily the ending steps up as the big bad make their move but the Soul Reapers have a counter measure to that. How will the big brawl go down next volume? Guess we shall see.

Something about this manga keeps me interested despite wanting to smack the main character in the head for falling for the guy who's family pretty much MURDERED her mother.

Anyway, this volume dives deeper into who is scheming who. The guy who runs the kitchen, verses how the young lord has control over certain areas, how the old master grandfather is a fucking prick most of the time, to the truth about our main girl after the mother finds out. All big reveals, mixed with some cooking lessons.

This isn't like the best written storyline. Characters to absurd things and everything is heighten to the tenth degree to make it "SHOCKING" for everything someone does. Saying that, I can't help but be intrigued to find out what really happened in the past, watching this family drama is like a little view into any family that they fight over money and fame, and of course our main lead just wanting to cook while also being under this insane house.

I can't stop reading despite having flaws with this one. A 3.5 out of 5.