In this collection of short stories, Takeda explores love and humanity in some non-traditional ways. In the first story, a young princess is captired and blindfolded and forced to sign treaties or make other deals that syphon away her power. the only person who shows her kindness during her captivity is a man with no pinky. During the three months of captivity, she can feel herself falling in love. In another story, a woman comes face to face with her stalker and has an honest conversation with him while they wait for the police. Another story with a historical setting focused on an emperor on his wedding night where he became entangled with an empress-assassin, and how they both found happiness in the end. In another story, explorers think they've found a "treasure" in the jungle, but it's a delicious new fruit instead of gold. But not understanding the native language costs them dearly. A short interlude piece spanning only a few pages focused on a vending machine and the apocalypse. In yet another story, a wife who is dying of cancer makes a difficult choice for her husband so that he might live on easier without her once she's gone.
0 Comments
On a remote island, young Luffy D. Monkey yearns to become a pirate and sail the known seas. His heroes are a band of pirates who come through his tiny village, but the mayor and other villagers think Luffy’s dream would only bring disgrace to their town. On one fateful visit from Luffy’s favorite pirate gang, Luffy accidentally eats the Devil’s Fruit, which makes him incredibly rubbery but will make him sink to the bottom of the ocean. In some skirmishes between mountain bandits and the pirates, Luffy learns that physical strength is not the only tool for a pirate. In reaching adulthood, Luffy sets off from his village to gather a crew and become the best pirate. However, he doesn’t know how to navigate, and he mostly sails along in a tiny dinghy and gets into trouble. In his first adventures, he meets Koby, who was forced to become a cabin boy for a lady pirate, and the pirate hunter Zolo who was captured by the Navy. Over and over, Luffy’s rubbery power and dumb luck gets him out of sticky situations.
Raeliana secures a friendship with a marquis' wife as Duke Noah instructed her to, but no sooner has this task been complete than Raeliana finds herself kidnapped by the terrible Francis Brooks, the fiancé she desperately tried to avoid from volume one because of the ill fate he had in store for her character in this novel to begin with. But of course, Duke Noah saves the day. Now that Raeliana is safe, she believes the contract can be called off, but Noah seems to want to follow through with the fake arrangement for much longer. Her next task is to accompany Noah on a monster hunt and play the part of a doting fiancée while parties of knights traipes off into a harsh winter forest and bring back offerings of dead beasts to lay at ladies' feet. Most of the knights bring back large beasts to offer to Vivian Shamal, the fairest of the ladies, but Noah's party doesn't return on time.
Naruto is a troublesome young ninja-in-training who is trying desperately to pass the exam and graduate from the Ninja Academy in his Village of the Hidden Leaves. His major problem is that he can't seem to master any of the techniques. His goal is to become a Hokage, the leader of all the Ninja in his village, but he doesn't see that his current struggle may make this dream impossible. One night, he gets wrapped up in a plot to steal a sacred scroll. While the scroll is in his care, Naruto manages to master one ninja technique: the Art of the Doppelganger. Naruto, thankfully, doesn't read the rest of the scroll, which also has the secret to what his village did to defeat the Nine-Tailed fox spirit and why everyone in the village seems to hate Naruto.
Tanjiro and the crew have prevailed once again but they are in need of some recovery at the Butterfly Mansion, although this time for not as long as before. With the developments at the end of their last battle setting Muzun’s sights on obtaining Nezuko as well as killing Tanjiro, the Demon Slayer Corps is preparing for an all-out fight. That means a strict training regimen with the Hashira and all lower-rank members are put through a rigorous trial with every Hashira. As Tanjiro is still recovering, he tries to connect with Giyu, the Water Hashira, and the only member not participating. We learn why he always seems to separate himself from the other Hashira and why he is disappointed that Tanjiro isn’t keeping up with his Water Breathing.
Suiren is a beautiful, mysterious young girl starting high school and the object of many young men’s crushes. She’s quiet, mysterious, and keeps to herself often. They liken her and nickname her “mysterious flower” because of her beauty and aloofness. One day, shy but tough Kawasumi stands up for her against several bullies, and she finds herself smitten. Kawasumi’s problem mirrors Suiren’s - he doesn’t know how to talk to girls, while Suiren doesn’t know how to talk to boys without sending them into emotional tizzies. The two bounce off each other in various high school situations - class field trips, navigating other students having crushes on them - and they might start to drift closer to one another as they realize a mutual attraction.
One morning, Keina wakes up in the world of Leadale in the body of her high elf Cayna. In the physical world, Keina knows she is hooked up to life support, and she vaguely remembers a power outage that might have caused her to be thrown into her VRMMORPG. Now that her medically fragile body has probably died, she now has to make the most of her second life as a very powerful elf in a fantasy world that has moved on from the time she was playing the game. How much has the events of the game changed the society, and what can she do to survive and not be found out as a powerful magic user!
In this magical tale, Alpi is a young girl who has a very important task. Great spirits bestow blessings on the regions where they live, but when they die, their bodies infect the land with terrible energy and plague the very people they once blessed. Soul Senders travel far and wide and help to send these spirits on to the afterlife and cleanse the land, but they do so at a great physical cost. Alpi and her companion, Pelenai, travel to several places and help them restore their lands, but one village has disrupted the natural order and twisted how their spirit should work with their land. Alpi is placed in a terrible position, and to uphold her duty as a Soul Sender, she might have to make a terrible choice.
Tokito, the Mist Hashira, continues to fight Gyokko, one of the Upper rank Kizuki demons, in his attempt to protect the swords smiths. During this fight, Tokito's memories return, and he remembers his twin brother, Yuichiro, and his parents. He remembers his path to becoming a Demon Slayer and the hatred he feels for demons fuels his attacks against Gyokko. Outside the village, Kanroji, the Love Hashira, has finally joined the fray with Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya in their battle against the many-bodied Hantengu. Kanroji takes a powerful physical attack head-on. As she’s stunned, her life flashes before her eyes and we get her backstory of how she became a Demon Slayer. Her life-long struggle revolves around her abundant strength, her insatiable appetite, her unrequited love for another Demon Slayer that she feels she will never be able to express, and never fully feeling like she will be accepted for all of her differences and perceived lack of femininity.
|
About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this site
Ratings, Audience, and Subject Tags
All
Archives
September 2024
|
© 2024 Sara Smith |
|
|