Book/Series Review! - Miki Falls

Miki Falls, Volume 4: Winter by Mark Crilley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I read a series of books -like this one, I tend to judge the series as a whole and at first I thought the way the others were going I was going to wind up being weird and boring! I was thinking that this series was just someone trying their hands on being a manga artist. But in the end I was wrong, this book, the last one, help redeemed some part of that for me!

In the first book I thought this guy has an unique way of drawing that he is putting to make his mangas different, distinctive! First off, he doesn't use a lot of blocks, his pictures tend to bleed together where most tend to have blocks on other blocks or over other pictures. Then the other was the art style itself, it was not all "anime-y" as most mangas try to do, even if it is NOT from Japan. So I liked that he was thinking outside the box on it!

The story, really I would of been happy just to jump into this one and be fine, being that some time has passed between each book. I mean look at the titles! Spring, Summer.... But to truly know how Miki felt and how powerful her love truly is you would have to read the whole thing.

There is where it got me! At first in book #1(Spring), I was like what the heck kind of story is this!? This guy, Hiro, gives and takes love away from people? And there is only a set amount of love in the world because it dies, NEVER to come back? I mean I can SEE were the writer got his idea came from with a world with more divorce rates then ever and people always leaving for something bigger and better sometimes leaving over something small. I mean I can see it but really? I never would of dreamed that one up! And prayed that the writer will redeem himself with this twist in the story. To my happiness he did and made me start to think about my own love/loveless life.

There is one part in book #3(Autumn) where Hiro talk about about the four different types of lovers. Sustainers, Wanderers, Selfers and Neverfinds. From the title of these I thought of myself as the first and last finding out that really Neverfinds are just a Sustainer that lost love and will never love again! <_< That hit me like a ton of bricks. And I think there is were I was really getting into the series wanting to know a bit more on this and hope that Miki would not be a Neverfind.

So here in book 4(Winter), we find these two still running away from the world so that they can love one another in peace. (view spoiler)[ How close they come, well needless to say that they don't make it and this looks bad for these two. Really bad. And knowing that she is a Neverfind makes it all the more harder to think that anything good will happen to them. (hide spoiler)] What makes this one so much better then the other three and makes me want to keep reading the pages again and again was that near the end you see her true power of love! (view spoiler)[And a question that everyone who find true love asked themselves, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?" And in this final volume we see her answer to this age old question we ask ourselves. And she chose the path I would of if I was her and the guy she loved was the one I fell in love with many years ago. (hide spoiler)] I like the ending! I was so expecting somethings ells by the way the artist was leading it to be and if he did that I was thinking that he could create another series based off of that! He still can, but it is good were he left it. So for the RIPPING emotion that he brought back to me, the creativeness he brought to the art and the story I gave this book high marks!


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Looking Back on the Years and Now Forward ho!

皆さん, よいお年を持っているや明けましておめでとう! Everyone, congratulations on entering the new year and please have a good year! So, 2013 is finally here. Looking back I think that I have lived though an area that will never (hopefully) repeat itself! Yes, I know it is no longer the 1st of the year but it is still the 1st month of the year! I am working on what ever I have... (my computer took a dive and is being fixed)  But on to my thoughts... not that most would care. But looking back on the last 12 years of my life I remember....

Y2k, back when the year 2000 was on the brink of a "world wide" power outage or the "Millennium bug". Basically it would of been much like the TV show Revolution on NBC. I remember My friend's mom having a million types of food that would NEVER go bad in the basement with on a self. The self was much like the selves that my own mother used to store all HER can goods, she did make most of it. All I remember was thinking, "we are never going to get ahead of all this food!" X_x  I think that is way I love this show, it was a "what could of happened but never did." I am a little sad it didn't really happen but in some ways glad. 

As the year 2000 came and left new threats were on the horizon! Mad Cow Disease,West Nile Virus, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, 9/11(USA), 3/11(Japan), threats of ab airborne version of Small Pox, and the dreaded December 21st 2012; the day the Mayan calender ends!

My generation and the one before me has seen AND lived through all of these, few remember some will never forget. The last 12 years as been very busy with people always in panic mode. I might be missing some, but after all those who wants to remember more? Many deaths have happened with each one. Thankfully I never lost anyone to any one of these. I and a few others I know have had the N1H1 (1 of the 3 strands) but it was after the scare. And 9/11, thankfully a new job position took my family that lived there away before the hit. But for me, it felt like Pearl Harbor.

Now a New year has begone, new chances to change the path you were walking on, change your plans! With the end of there year gone and past we are in a new age! Hopefully with less panicking people. But I am proud of all the people who lived through these fears and has come out on top! Our generation is something that people will be looking back and wishing they could of lived with us. (give them a year and they would change their minds) So now what?

Well for me, I am going to make this the year of my life! I am going to do .... about the same thing I have always done... Work, sleep, see the family, work, work, sleep, play a game, work. But somehow through all that I do wanna make it a year that in between that I will make it a blast! So when I look back on it I will be like, "man that was Soooo much FUN!!! Lets do some of it gain?" And I will find a way to do so the next year.

Some things that would make it a blast (but more then likely wont happen) would be a trip to Japan or to land a HUGE part in something that could get my name out there as an actor! Hey, I can dream right?

But for real, my goal for me this year it to learn Hangul (Korean) and keep up with my Nihongo (Japanese) and French so that I will be able to translate music, mangas/books, and movies.Well, that is one goal for me, Studying of foreign languages! -_^

  明けましておめでとう!

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