Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 8

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 8 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

At last, Rinko's found it--the happy, comfortable relationship she's dreamt of. She and Hayasaka-san have moved into an apartment together, and her best friends have wished her well. Everything is going smoothly...until those same best friends show up breathless at her doorstep with the biggest four-alarmer yet: Key's gone missing, and Rinko may be the only one who can find him and bring him back. But the rescue may come at the cost of everything she thought she wanted... 

After last volumes cliffhanger, we're picking up straight away and I eagerly dove in to see what would happen next with Rinko! Obviously the girls have come to collect her for a quick road trip to go and grab Key. Which means it's time for Rinko to come to terms with her feelings about him even if it's going to mean ruining the happiness that she thinks she's finally found. 

I feel like Mami touched on an issue for the girls that they do really need to work on, and while she's younger than them I'm hoping she'll end up talking some sense in to them and helping them see things a different way. I feel like she'd be a good addition! 

As for Rinko, I was cheering so much when she gave Key that talking to, and then screeching at the moment between them. I don't know when I started shipping them, but here we are. I think it's largely in part due to the fact that we've slowly come to get to know Key and understand him and how he works, so I'm kinda rooting for him but I also feel like he's got a lot that he needs to deal with for things to turn out well between them. 

I'm really enjoying the direction things are starting to take, and I'm curious to see what will happen next with Rinko. I'm rooting for her to get her happiness, but she's also made some valid points about Key and what he hasn't said, and I'm anticipating some problems in the near future. Which kinda makes me sad because she just threw away her newfound happiness for him. I have to say though, that the final chapter was a bit disappointing, while it was fairly poignant to get flashes from Rinko's past and how she's ended up at the place that she is...considering what was happening I was a little bit like, 'really?! We're doing this now?!'. 

Manga: Kiss Me at The Stroke of Midnight 9

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight Vol 9 
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

As Hinana sinks deeper into despair, Akira has no one else to turn to but his rival Kaede. Akira shares Hinana's past family troubles with Kaede because it's affecting her now more than ever. What will Kaede do when he finally hears the truth? And in a moment of respite, Hinana and Kaede take a vacation to a hot spring resort, and, much to their chaperone's dismay, things get a little steamy! 

I have to say this volume takes a more serious tone than the recent ones and I really enjoyed that. We get some solid background information on Hinana and her past, I really did feel for her and I empathised with her. It was easy to see how she became the person that she is and why she does certain things, a lot of pieces fell in to place when it comes to she and her decisions and personality. 

Things do get quite serious and emotional this volume, more so than we've seen before I feel, with regards to that and I personally felt like it was nice to see a more serious layer to the story and characters, especially from Kaede. 

It was a nice way to spend a chunk of the volume before things get a little bit lighter, although Kaede is about to have a problem of his own as he has to face Funny Bone again and I'm interested to see how that's going to play out, especially as Hinana ends up becoming involved. 

I enjoyed addressing Hinana's past and the issue's it's caused her in the present, I liked getting to her understand her a lot more and see Kaede be a little bit more serious. I feel like it was good for their relationship too, showing a more mature and serious side to it. I think the end is in sight as we address Hinana's problems as well as Kaede's. 

Review: Batman Nightwalker

Batman: Nightwalker
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Returning home from his lavish eighteenth birthday party, Bruce Wayne stops a criminal's getaway - disobeying the police and crashing his car during the chase. 

Sentenced to community service in Gotham City's Arkham Asylum, he encounters some of the the city's most dangerous and mentally disturbed criminals. Among these, Bruce meets the intriguing Madeleine who has ties to the Nightwalker gang that is terrorizing Gotham City.

She's a mystery Bruce has to unravel but can he trust her? The Nightwalkers target the rich, and Bruce's name is next on their list.

First thing's first, I loved the art style for this graphic novel adaptation! The art is just gorgeous, the character designs are wonderfully drawn and I really liked the aesthetic of them, but I loved the colour palette for this entire graphic novel the most. It's all black, white and grey with yellow being the only colour but it's only used for certain things...to accent things you could say and I really loved that choice! I also particularly liked the way the expressions were drawn on character's faces and the emotion that you could see in their eyes where brought across so well with the art, like the snide looks Bruce got in one particular panel. 

The beginning of this is intriguing, and there's action from the start including a nice and tense car chase. After that it's not long before we're presented with a mystery in the form of the Nightwalkers and then we're getting up close and personal with Arkham Asylum. Bruce is adjusting to life as a billionaire now that he's 18 and like Madeline says...he sees everything in black and white. Good and bad. He's also a little bit too nosy for his own good in this case! 

Madeline is suitably mysterious, she seems to relate to Bruce and you can empathise with her past. But you can't really trust her and I was constantly torn between wanting to trust her...but not quite being able to bring myself to. You could never really be sure if she was telling the truth or if she was lying and she's very manipulative but she certainly kept you on your toes.

As someone who's read the original book, I have to say this was nicely paced and we move through the story wonderfully from point to point with action, tension and suspicion throughout before everything wraps up perfectly. The key plot points and most important scenes have been picked out to be brought to life in the graphic novel, with the characters expressions getting across a lot of the emotion as well as adding to the tone and atmosphere of the scenes. None of the plot or feeling behind it is lost with this adaptation, and you can see the beginnings of Bruce becoming Batman with his need to solve mysteries and crimes. By the end of the volume Bruce has been set on his path to truly becoming Batman. We also get cameos from Alfred, Lucius, Harvey Dent and James Gordon as well.

Blog Tour: Angel Mage

Hello, and welcome to my stop on the Angel Mage blog tour! I'm so excited to be included in this blog tour, and I've got something a little special for you today...an extract from the book introducing one of the characters, Agnez! 

I'm nearly finished with reading the book and it is....stunning. I could so easily binge read this, it's not at all hard to read or heavy and if I could binge read the whole thing..I would have. I love Garth Nix's world building and the characters he creates and he never fails to draw me in to his worlds and have me getting lost for hours, Angel Mage is certainly no exception to that! I am so close to finishing the book and my review will be coming ASAP so keep an eye on my Twitter! 

Angel Mage is Garth Nix's first adult fantasy novel, and it's inspired by Dumas and The Three Musketeers in a gender equal world...but with Angelic magic and I can't begin to describe to you all how in love with the magic system I am! 

So what is Angel Mage about? Well...

More than a century has passed since Liliath crept into the empty sarcophagus of Saint Marguerite, fleeing the Fall of her country, Ystara. But she emerges from her magical sleep still beautiful, looking no more than nineteen, and once again renews her single-minded quest to be united with her lover, Palleniel, the archangel of Ystara.

Liliath’s quest centres round four young Sarancians, all seemingly different but who share something very important. There is Simeon, a studious doctor-in-training; Henri, a dedicated fortune hunter; Agnez, an adventurous musketeer; and Dorotea, an icon-maker and scholar of angelic magic.

The four feel a strange, immediate kinship for each other from the moment they meet, but they do not know why, or suspect their importance. Only Liliath knows their secret, and she aims to draw them in to her complex plot, just as she manipulates the Queen and her musketeers and everyone else around here.

The four friends must learn to rely on each other and each of their unique skills if they’re going to stand a chance to outwit Liliath and the angels she commands.

Intrigued? Of course you are, how could you not be!? So if you're ready to delve in to this world...continue on for the extract...

Ugh, I love Agnez okay, I hope you guys will love her too when you read this! I can promise you that the writing and world building for this book are so rich, and it really does pull you in as you read! I had high expectations for this book, and I have not been let down thus far! 

Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour... 

 

Manga: Eden's Zero 4

Eden's Zero Vol 4 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

A young boy gazes up at the sky and sees a streaming bolt of light. The friendly, armor-clad being at his side tells him gently, "That's a dragon." The fact that he's joking isn't important. What's important is the look of wonder on the boy's face... and the galaxy-spanning adventure that's about to take place! Join Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail, Rave Master) once more as he takes to the stars for another thrilling saga! 

There's tension from the start of this volume as we have an incoming disaster and a fight, so you could say the first few chapters are pretty intense for that, and we've got twists once again to take us by surprise, especially as we meet Sister Ivry. Plus we obviously have a mad scramble to get off the planet before it all goes to hell, basically. 

I really am enjoying the dynamics between our little group of misfits, and the banter that they have that provides a lot of the humour. I also love the adventure/quest vibe to this as we bounce from place and ensuing chaos to place and yet more chaos. So far each new place we've visited has been not only interesting but also different to the previous places we've visited. 

We got to learn a little more about Homura in this volume which eased my suspicions about her a smidge. But we have an ominous new character on the loose that may or may not...but most likely will cause trouble for our group. 

Keeping up the nice pace we soon head out to search for the remaining two of the Four Shining Stars, their next target being Valkyrie. However, before they can find Valkyrie we come face to face with Hermit..sort of. Of course nothing is that simple and so we get to venture to yet another new planet, of course this one is quite different to the ones we've seen so far. 

Digitalis and the explanation for it kind of reminded me of SAO with the whole "if you die in Digitalis you die in real life" kind of thing, and the fact that once you enter the planet you're in a game, which I also found an interesting route to take with the planet and it's different to anything I've seen before when it comes to sci-fi manga or books. What made this planet even more interesting is that we've got a murderer running around so while we get a little bit of a break from the tension it's not long before we're back with it! 

As for easter eggs, I spotted quite a lot of Fairy Tail easter eggs in this volume...Weisz really used a flamethrower ether gear and yelled "atlas flame" and I stared at the page for a solid minute like...you didn't?! We also have an Oracion Seis and Ichiya popped up...sort of. It also has to be said that Rebecca really looked like Carla when she's in her human form at one point. 

All in all Volume 4 is another nicely paced volume with plenty of action and intrigue to keep you going, and I'm enjoying how everything is tying together both within this volume specifically and within the story as a whole! After the cliffhanger ending, I'm even more excited for the next volume! 

Manga: Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest

Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest Vol 1 
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Erza, and the whole FAIRY TAIL guild are back in action! And they've decided to tackle the "100 Years Quest"-- a job no one's dared take on since the founding of the oldest guild more than a century ago. A mysterious town, a baffling spirit, a ghastly new enemy...and a brand new continent to explore. When you're with real friends, the adventures never stop! 

It's baaaaaackk! I was so sad when Fairy Tail ended, but it's not been over for long and we've already got a sequel, and an exciting one at that! I got shivers at the very first page of this volume with the whole "the first guild is born" page, I was immediately like "okay, I need to know more right now" and this volume quickly delivers for us. 

While we initially start off at the Guild, meeting a new Fairy Tail member by the name of Touka, who's kind of like Juvia...but with Natsu, we're soon off with Team Natsu on the 100 Years Quest that's never before been completed..hence 100 Years Quest. What I loved about this volume, aside from being back with the characters we know and love, was that it allows us to explore more of the world of Fairy Tail as we journey to a new continent. Plus we get to visit the first ever wizard's guild Magia Dragon and learn a little about it. I have to say...I'm in love with their guild hall...it's an actual castle, and I want it! The Guild Master is also pretty...interesting, and introduces us to a new type of dragon slayer magic, which I'm curious about. 

I've been curious about this 100 Years Quest ever since it was first mentioned, so I couldn't wait to see what it was all about and it definitely took me by surprise, but has left me feeling really excited. It's taking us to new territory, we've got an entire new continent to explore and different towns and cities, we're going to be discovering new types of magic, meeting new characters both good and bad as well as Guilds, and we're going to be getting to see more dragons and dragon slayer magic too! 

Alongside all of that, we're getting little interludes back to Magnolia, so we do get to see all of the others, and thanks to Jellal we get to check in with some of our other favourites as well! Juvia and Touka bicker a lot and I kind of can't wait for Natsu to return because I feel like it's going to be hilarious! But Touka seems a bit...shady and Gajeel seems quite suspicious after she mentions a certain person. So while Team Natsu are off on their quest, Gajeel turns detective with Juvia soon helping him, and they start to dig in to Touka and her background. I do really love it when Juvia and Gajeel work together or when we get to see them interact with each other and see their friendship as we don't get it often. However, it also seems like Jellal is on the hunt for Touka as well, so we've got the mystery of Touka and what the deal is with her, and the mystery presented by the 100 Years Quest. 

This volume throws us back in to the world of Fairy Tail with all the humour and chaos that we know and love. It also starts things moving quickly and provides plenty of intriguing hints as to what's to come including a reunion for Lucy that I'm personally really hopeful and excited about! Not to mention the Quest itself which is better than I could have imagined. There's new creatures and places to see, new characters to meet and I laughed plenty of times making my way through this volume...as well as feeling quite at home, it has to be said. 

There's plenty of twists and turns, things have been introduced to us and set up nicely within the first volume, giving us plenty to look forward to from the story in the coming volumes. I have to say, this was everything I was hoping for and more, and I feel like it's going back to the more carefree, fun Fairy Tail, with more adventure/quest vibes to it because obviously towards the end of Fairy Tail things got very tense and serious.