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[GTO] Great Teacher Onizuka V.3 Manga Review ————————

By: Alpha

Synopsis:
      Off the streets and on the job, Eikichi Onizuka has ascended to the exalted ranks of schoolteacher only to discover he’s now got to learn how to teach.   And the student’s are not going to make it easy for him.   A gaggle of seemingly placid young pupils who have already driven three teachers into psychotic fits now set their sites on the Great Teacher.   But they could very well have underestimated Onizuka’s unusually high threshold for punishment.

Review:  
      In this volume, the plan to kill Onizuka as begun.   After their failure in the first attempt, Murai goes all out and of course, this results in humor to the extreme.   We are also introduced to the smokin’ hot school nurse, Naoko Moritaka (Still can’t compare to Ms. Fuyutsuki though).   Going back to Murai’s plans.   How’s a cockroach in your lunch?   (I’ve always thought that school lunch had a certain funny funk to it.   Now I know it is for real.   Note: I do not eat school lunch :P).   Well this plan fails then leaves to another try in which Murai almost got a taste of his own medicine.   Battles after battles, then all of a sudden we are introduced to Murai’s young mother.   The upcoming parts just shows off Onizuka’s character a little more.   At the end of this volume, Noboru attempts to suicide again, but Onizuka gets there just in time to save him.   But he could not save the Cresta.   After Onizuka, Kikuchi and Noboru sets out for revenge.   Anko Uehara (one of the girls who abused Noboru), tells her mother, the head of the PTA and she starts a big ruckus out of the whole situation.       

Recommend Value - A+, This volume is the funniest yet.   You just can’t get bored of GTO.   The humor comes back to you every time you read it.   Upon reviewing this volume, I have at least read this volume five times.   I will still be cracking up on the comedic scenes in the near future reads.    

Closing Statement(s) - Time to go on to volume four.  

[GTO] Great Teacher Onizuka V.2 Manga Review ————————

By: Alpha

Synopsis:
      Former gangster Onizuka is ready to put aside his punkish outlaw ways and join the working world as a teacher. All that stands between him and a regular paycheck - and dozens of hot girls to flirt with - is the big teaching exam …which, of course, he proceeds to flub. Now, without credentials, the only place he can land a job is as a student teacher at the Holy Forest Academy where he only barely gets hired after humiliating the Vice Principal. He’ll have to use his street smarts to deal with students and faculty alike if he’s ever going to become a Great Teacher.

Review:  
      After being hung up so high by TokyoPOP at the end of volume one, we finally go to volume two and the action continues.   Onizuka shows what he thinks teaching is about.   He tries to fix a family problem, that one of his female students was having.   At the end, of course, his help works and the family finally begins to come back as a whole.   (Ya know? a good old sledge hammer does come in handy at times ^_^)  

      One problem is solved and another comes running in.   Onizuka finishes his teacher in training program, and is looking for a school who would hire him, being a lazy person that he is and thinking that things will come knocking on your door without yourself giving any effort, (By the way, that quote has some meaning to it, FYI) Onizuka doesn’t make it to the exam that all teachers had to take if they were to teach at a public school.   As he is sulking, his best friend Ryuji, shows him the light!   That’s where the funniest part out of this volume comes in; Onizuka meets Azusa Fuyutsuki (A soon to be teacher) and vice principal, Uchiyamada.   After a hilarious scene on the bus, both Onizuka and Fuyutsuki goes to Holy Forest Academy for their interviews.   Oh my god!   Funny scenes come one after another, and all of a sudden you see Uchiyamada on the floor with white foam over his mouth. :D  then…

      GTO changes to GDO (Great Driver Onizuka) and as he drives, Ryuji rings him up and tells Onizuka some great news.   He makes a U-turn on the Tokaido interstate and drives recklessly back to the academy.   He is later on hired and will be living on campus.   A lot of weird things go on at night on the campus and as Onizuka uncovers them, he finds another, soon to be problem.                                   

Recommend Value - A+,GTO is one of the best manga / anime series that ever appeared on the face of the Earth.   With comedy, ecchi humor, and life values this piece of work contains.   It’s no wonder why Tohru Fujisawa named this work GREAT Teacher Onizuka and I’m sure a lot of readers and viewers agree too.

Closing Statement(s) - Need.. to… calm… the… cravings… for…. more… scenes… of… Ms….. Fuyutsuki.  

Mikuni Shimokawa - Kimi no Uta Album Review——————————

By: Alpha

Tracklistings:  
01 - Kimi ni fuku kaze (Ending theme of Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu)
02 - Monozuki
03 - Kanashimi ni makenaide (Ending theme of Grenadier)
04 - all the way     
05 - Toihoshi
06 - Kimi no yume -Kanzenban-
07 - Itsu demo yume wo
08 - Remember
09 - Missing
10 - KOHAKU -Album Mix- (Opening theme of Grenadier)
11 - Sorega ai deshou (Opening theme of Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu)
12 - Arekara ~Soshite, Ima~
13 - Love song on the radio -Live in Shindoru-

      Alpha and Mikuni Shimokawa strikes back!!! Whew, one of my favorite J-Pop artists comes swinging at me at full force with her newest album, Kimi no Uta. At a price of 3000 yen, plus shipping equals $35 or so, minus my 300 bonus points that I attained from earlier purchases from CDJapan totaling to about $32 and change… some will say, ‘That is some expensive shiznit!’ While I will say, ‘This is one of my best investments in music lately.’ Some songs that might attract some attention are Grenadier’s and Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu theme songs. I was so excited when I got this order in the mail and quickly proceeded to strip the box of its contents and spun the CD in the player.

      Before I made this purchase, I was super hooked on Mikuni Shimokawa’s Arekara, which was the closing theme of the final episode of Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu. When I saw that Arekara was on this album I quickly jumped on it… only to find out later after listening that it was a remix version (~Soshite, Ima~). I very much dislike remixes, since I am an ‘original’ man. I guess I will have to buy her other album; Sorega Aideshou / Kimi ni Fuku Kaze now. ^_^.

        What I adore with Mikuni Shimokawa is her melodic voice; it just charms the soul.   She is definitely one of the few voices in this world that I can stand listening to forever.   Okay, maybe I am starting to sound like a stalker ^_^;;.   But I cannot deny the fact that I do think of her that highly.   You J-Pop loving people should put this album or any of her albums for that matter on your prioritized music to get list!      
          

Recommend Value - B+, while I love a lot of these songs, I do not think those who do not know her or do not know her music will like her works. A shame, but that is how music is. Mikuni Shimokawa has made her mark on me as one of the best out there. I will continue to look forward to her stuff. It is always a joy when I listen to her lovely voice :P. Too bad I lost her 392 Sellections CD, it was the first press edition too!!! Oh wells, I think I will have to buy another one along with the Sorega Aideshou / Kimi ni Fuku Kaze album. Sigh… $40+.

Closing Statement(s) - Fact of the day:   Alpha was crazy enough to buy the Olympus Trip 35 camera after seeing that Mikuni has one in the 392 Sellections album.   Now that is what I call obsessed :P.    

Kare Kano Vol. 1 Manga Review —————————————-

By: Alpha

Synopsis:
      Yukino Miyazawa has it all - perfect grades, looks, the admiration of her peers.   She’s the #1 student at her school… at least she was until he showed up.   The new boy, Soichiro Arima, one-ups her in every department.   And the worst thing about it is that he’s sincere!   With her ego in jeopardy, Yukino will do whatever it takes to regain the spotlight, but falling in love was never part of the plan.

Review:  
      I am pretty surprised that I took approximately three weeks just to finish Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances or Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou) volume one.   Do not get me wrong.   This manga was a very fun read.   Sometimes manga-ka Masami Tsuda would add her little funny life episode on the side of a page.   Masami has a great sense of humor, she made me laugh as I was reading Tsuda Diary near the end of volume one.    

      Let’s get to the story, Yukino Miyazawa a top student and ego maniac, preys on the praises of others.   In other words, she gets satisfied as people admire her.   All eyes were on Yukino until Arima arrived.   Arima, a male student who is similar to Yukino in many ways in the eyes of the school, suddenly becomes the center of attention and Yukino feels that she no longer is number one.   Finally, Yukino scores higher than Arima on a test and she becomes surprised at Arima’s actions.   All he did was praised her.   Yukino feeling a bit of uneasiness goes home and acts if nothing happened.    

      But later on is when something does happen, and when the story starts pulling together.   Arima finds out Yukino’s true self first hand and then we end up with Arima blackmailing Yukino.   Many things happen and at the end of the volume we are put into what is going to become the beginning of a pair of lovers.    

      Certainly I enjoyed the manga licensed by Tokyopop as with the animation licensed and distributed by The Rightstuf International.   The story was pretty much on par with the animation.   The only difference between them is that in the manga a bonus story called “The Tiger and the Chameleon: A Promise For One Week” and “Tsuda Diary” was included.   The story of the bonus story was about a girl who thought that she was ugly, because a kid from back then called her ugly.   The story relates to an issue that many people face today; looks in other’s eyes.   She went from a person who would not even put her head up because she had such low self esteem to a person who no longer cares.   How?   That’s for everybody who read Kare Kano volume one to know and you who have not yet read Kare Kano volume one to find out :P.      

Recommend Value - A, Kare Kano is easily my top favorites right now.   But let’s try to find some negatives.   I can’t.   The story of Kare Kano is real.   Meaning it is based in present time more importantly Masami Tsuda is a genius!   And hehe she sleeps late so that she cannot wake up early on purpose and what her brother does to her when she can’t wake up is funny.   Check it out, hey who knows you might grow to love this series too.            

Closing Statement(s) - Three weeks to finish a manga… that’s sad, I need to kick myself in the rear or jump start my motor for taking so long!     

BoA - Valenti ——————————————–

By: Alpha

Tracklistings:
01 - Valentiļ½˛
02 - Jewel Song
03 - B.I.O.
04 - Sekai no katasumi de
05 - Kiseki
06 - Winding Road featuring DABO
07 - Searching for Truth
08 - Moon & Sunrise
09 - Discovery
10 - Flowerļ½˛
11 - Beside You
12 - Feel the Same
13 - No.1

Special DVD listing:
01 - LISTEN TO MY HEART PV
02 - Valenti PV
03 - Information Clip

BoA is an artist in which I have a low knowledge on. Her single “LISTEN TO MY HEART” was the first song that caught my attention and it was the only song. Since the release of “LISTEN TO MY HEART” I have never looked into BoA much again. How did I recently tune back to BoA? It was all, because of the recommendations from a forum that I frequent.

So, lets’ start. Valenti is BoA’s second album and a great album. Mainly, because of the background music, the lyrics, along with the beautiful voice of BoA. This album completely changed the way I look at or listen to BoA. The album is made up of different styles. From R&B to Dance to Ballads, she does an astonishing job. From the moment I press play on my DVD Player and heard the beat of track 1 (Valenti) I immediately said, “Ok, this is going to be a hell of an album.” Turns out to me that I was correct. I know this one dude who cannot stop listening the CD! (No! It’s not me! Although I did put the whole Valenti album into an MD for my own listening pleasures.)

An interesting feat that I found was that the album goes from one fast paced song to a slow paced song and then fast again. It is laid out in that pattern. This lay out pattern just makes Valenti that more attractive. You will not be finding yourself going fast all the time, but having a dose of each world, which I find to be a good thing. When I put up with the same style of music, I tend to listen to it for a week and then it is back to my draw to collect dust. That is only me though heh.

Normally this last paragraph would be my personal song recommendations of the reviewed album, but Valenti to me does not contain any bad songs. So, I recommend all the songs in this album! I must say BoA did a very very good job on Valenti. Well I also have to give props to the crew who putted the whole album together too.

Recommend Value - After listening to Valenti for approximately a week, I have yet to grow bored of it. I actually think that the songs are still pretty fresh and new to me. BoA’s Valenti deserves an A+, because it is that damn good!

Closing Statement(s) - Maybe I should slap myself for not attending the NYT Music Festival when she attended. I think it was back in the year 2001.

Chemistry - Second to None ——————————————–

By: Alpha

Tracklistings:  
01 - Intro-ludeļ½˛You’re My Second to Noneļ½˛
02 - It Takes Two
03 - STILL ECHO
04 - My Gift to You     
05 - Running Away
06 - BACK TOGETHER AGAIN
07 - No Color Line
08 - FLOATIN’
09 - SOLID DREAM
10 - Let’s Get Together Nowļ¼?Tokyo Callingļ½˛
11 - RIPTIDE
12 - Tsukiyo
13 - My Way
14 - Kimi Wo Sagashiteta

      During a boring day of listening to the same music that I own over and over again.   I begin to remember that my friend said he has this music video and the things they do in it was cool.   So, I asked him what’s the song title.   He told me “PIECES OF A DREAM.”   I thought, “That’s a nice name for a song.”   I then asked him what’s the artist’s name.   He told me, “Chemistry.”   I laughed and said in a joking manner, “Then there must be a Physics and a Biology? Right?”   Well, after I heard “PIECES OF A DREAM,” I was astounded, by the dope beats and lyrics.   I continued to follow this group’s music consisting of Kawabata Kaname and Dochin Yoshikuni.   Suddenly I became a fan.   What they sing is soothing, and at times emotional.   In a few days I realized myself, bopping to the beats and then singing their songs.   I would just scream out their lyrics.   That’s something I haven’t done for a while, due to songs that are no longer interesting.   Only a few artists’ songs can make me scream lyrics and Chemistry’s is one of them.

      On to the album, “Second to None.”   Right when you press play on your CD/DVD/PC/Whatever player you will hear the interlude and then taken to track two, one of the best songs in my opinion in the album, “It Takes Two.”   This song just has this nice beat to it, and catchy lyrics to captivate the listener’s ears.   I was bopping to this song right from the beginning.   It was like I knew the lyrics before.   I can some how hum out what was coming next.   Man… all the songs are great in this album.   It is time to list the songs that stand out among the rest in my ear’s point of hearing:   “It Takes Two,” “My Gift to You,” and “Floatin’.”                  

Recommend Value - Chemistry’s music gives me this nice feeling.   I would just sit down on my chair and read manga as I’m listening to this album.   Heh, I even play video games with their songs on.   I will give this album an A, as it doesn’t disappoint me and finally I’m no longer bored out of my mind when there’s nothing to do.       

Closing Statement(s) - If possible try “PIECES OF A DREAM,” by Chemistry.   That song is the song that got me interested in Chemistry, so try it out see if you’re into their style and make your own decision, to whether you’d want to invest in Chemistry’s second album, “Second to None.”   Just a note, “PIECES OF A DREAM” is not in this album, but in the older album.   As always, you can make any Japanese music purchases through CDJapan.     

Chobits V.1 Manga Review ————————————————–

By: Alpha

Synopsis:
      Chi isn’t your average humanoid computer. She can’t do word processing, she can’t connect to the net, and she’s incapable of interfacing with other persocoms … but when the hapless, technophobic Hideki rescues her from the scrap heap and takes her home, he finds that she may be more advanced than her childlike behavior lets on …

Review:  
      I remember when I was taking an exam, and in the exam came a reading part where it was about a computer named Joe and a dude that programmed Joe.   The programmer wanted to find his one true love, through Joe’s advanced pair making program that he created.   As time goes by and the programmer enters his information to Joe, Joe becomes more and more like the programmer.   Sort of being his closes friend.   Then one day, because Joe is a mechanical version of the programmer, he betrays his master and gets him arrested for breaking some law (I forgot).   By the time that happened, Joe found the programmer’s soul mate and he takes the place of the programmer and of course Joe takes the girl too.   This story is very interesting and it brings up the issue of if humans should have computers (robots).   Which also brings us to Chobits…          

      Have you ever wonder what it would be like to own a robot?   Better yet, a persocom.   Hideki Motosuwa, 19 years old and a virgin :P.   He introduces us to the setting of Chobits in the first few pages.   Then we find out his desire for a persocom, but because he is poor, there’s no way he can afford a persocom that costs more than what he has in his bank.   He wonders what it would be like to have a persocom.   Then it happened, like an angel falling from the sky.   Hideki finds Chi (Chii) in a garbage dump as he is walking home after work.   At first he thought it was a dead body of a girl, then he looked carefully and found out it was a persocom that someone apparently had thrown out.   The whole process of bringing Chi back to his place was hilarious and… I don’t know how to explain it ^_^;;  
Anyways, Hideki finally gets Chi to start and all Chi can say is Chi, because her data disk was dropped as he brought her home.   That pretty much sums up volume one ^_^    

      There’s comedy everywhere in the manga, so as I was reading I had a lot of good laughs.   The drawings are nicely done and the story is addictive, because of the fact that computers are taking over a lot things in our lives in this day in age.   Who knows when we’ll have persocoms.           

Recommend Value - A, Chobits is created by the all female group CLAMP, but that’s not the reason why I recommend Chobits.   The main reason is that Chobits has a cool story, a lot of comedy and the drawings are very well done.         

Closing Statement(s) - CLAMP has scored big with Chobits.   Anyone looking for something to get a good laugh out of, a deep story that tackles the issue between humans and robots; it has to be Chobits.   One more thing, I love TokyoPOP for bringing so many hit manga series.   And no I’m not sucking up!   If you have read the news lately you’ll know what I’m talking about.  

Mikuni Shimokawa - 392 BEST SELLECTIONS Album Review———-

By: Alpha

Tracklistings:  
01 - Party -is not over- (overtune)
02 - POPCORN
03 - KANARIA
04 - Pavement     
05 - TRUE -album version-  (Opening theme of Dragon Drive)
06 - TATTA HITOTSUNO -album mix- (Ending theme of Dragon Drive)
07 - KARENAI HANA (Ending theme of FULL METAL PANIC)
08 - tomorrow (Opening theme of FULL METAL PANIC)
09 - Alone
10 - BELIEVER (Studio live version)
11 - HAJIMARI
12 - If (CMJK remix)

      Hehe my first music CD review, I’m going all out ^_^;; nowadays. Ok, now how many people reading this has heard of Mikuni Shimokawa?   Before her songs were put in anime…   I’d say probably 3 out of 10 people.   Mikuni Shimokawa, a talented singer debuted back in 1999 with her debut single BELIEVER.   This album here has all her latest songs and some past songs, which means the latest anime themes are in this short, but none the less, enjoyable disc.   Mikuni’s got a very good voice, also she writes some of   her songs and in Track 11 - HAJIMARI, she played the Piano/Drums.   I’ve been listening to her album everyday over and over again, not being a bit bored.   Weird, because I never watch the same anime twice in the same week.   Anyways, Party is an introduction, getting you all softened up.   Then comes POPCORN, a song with a nice up beat.   And blah blah blah, all the songs are good :P.   The songs on my favorites list are POPCORN, TRUE, TATTA HITOTSUNO, KARENAI HANA, tomorrow, Alone, BELIEVER, HAJIMARI and If.   Basically almost the whole album, I wonder if that’s why they named it BEST SELLECTIONS and uh… I think they spelled SELLECTIONS wrong, I thought it was suppose to be SELECTIONS.   They seem to have spelled it that way for some reason; on the album it’s spelled SELLECTIONS on her official site www.love392.net it’s spelled SELLECTIONS.   Hope I’m not going crazy, because I’m listening to 392 right now, as I type this.   That about wraps it up for this review, go check out Mikuni Shimokawa - 392 BEST SELLECTIONS at CDJapan!!! Ja.