Charles from Blood+.

I’ve been a fan of Blood+ for a very long time; I remember having watched the series back in 2007/2008 on Animax. The anime was really good, and although I had people telling me that the manga had a different story, I thought I wasn’t missing much by not picking it up.

Boy, was I wrong. I started reading the Blood+ manga two days ago, and I found it really endearing. I’d say it’s better than the anime, but each has its good and bad points, so I won’t go there.

Diva turns out to be not as bitter as she is in the anime, and her history with Saya is altered dramatically. Van Argiano is so much more than the idiot he is in the anime; I thought he was very intimidating and shrewd and, well, evil. Solomon is such a girly pretty boy and a real creep; far worse than his anime counterpart (seriously, the entire time I was reading the manga I was liking Solomon less and less). Riku isn’t annoying, and even likable. Haji isn’t as cool or as expressionless as a rock as he is in the anime; he had his stupid moments with Kai, which I thought were hilarious. Kai isn’t an idiot, and a great big brother to Saya. Nathan is still very gay, although I like him less than his anime version. Amschel is still obsessed with Diva, but I thought he cared for her more in the manga than in the anime.

And Karl - holy frikking thing, he did not exist in the manga. Instead, his counterpart is the adorable little Charles, who is Diva’s favorite chevalier. I was absolutely disappointed when I realized that they decided to rob the anime of its Charles. Seriously, Charles is so cute and evil and adorable and I’d prefer him to Karl any day. It’s not as if I ever liked Karl to begin with, but really - I thought Charles was a great symbolism of chiropterans who, just like Saya, are trying to fit in with human beings, especially since he’s always with his caretaker, Van Argiano.

On that note, I really think Van and Charles make a good pair. No, seriously: I love Charles x Van. There’s something about their master-servant relationship that is both twisted and fascinating to me. (And I also ship Charles x Riku, although I’m guessing to a lesser degree.) I’ve never even considered yaoi before, but Charles x Van and Charles x Riku made me.

I was browsing through the fan fiction archive just a while ago, and I’m terribly disappointed to see that there isn’t much about Charles, or his relationship with Van or Riku. Which really sucks, because he deserves more stories about him. People who have seen the anime don’t even know who Charles is, and if you’re one of them: You don’t know what you’re missing. (Give the manga a try. NOW.)

I just realized how difficult it is to fan girl over a character/pairing that only a very few people know about. It’s terribly frustrating, and I’m just glad I have this anime/manga blog where I can post something like this.

Here’s to hoping that more people will give the Blood+ manga a try.

P.S. Go here if you’re a fan of Charles. ♥  

I have literally been losing sleep thinking of this pairing. So here's my little tribute to Charles x Van, because it's just so brilliantly twisted. ♥

The Magnificent Liar

"Those glasses - " Solomon remarked.
"Ah," Van said. "Forced habit."
Takes place sometime in volume four of the manga.
Contains spoilers. Partly AU. Solid Charles x Van.

Fandom. Blood+.
Title. The Magnificent Liar.
Characters. Charles, Van Argiano.
Genre. Hurt/Comfort/Drama.
Rating. T.
Chapter/s. 1.
Status. Complete.

It's been a long time since I wrote for Blood+! It feels great to be back, and I hope I didn't do so bad on my first attempt at writing shounen-ai. And I'm not sure if Van is French, but he had a French accent in the anime, so I just assumed it's the same for his manga counterpart.

I watched the series back in 2007, but I only picked up the manga the other day. It's such an embarrassment; I consider myself a big fan of the series, too! :( In any case, I love Charles immensely, and I simply can't believe that they replaced him with Karl in the anime. I've never been into shounen-ai, but I'm making an exception for him and Van, because there's just something about them together that's both twisted and fascinating to me.

I'm disappointed to know that there are only a very few Charles x Van stories in the archive, something which I hope to change soon. I have three other one-shots in mind for this pairing, and I'm pretty excited to work on them. It's probably very late, but I'm also trying to gather fans of Charles together; it's about the damn time people know about him! Most of the fans of the anime don't even know him, which is quite frustrating.

Anyway, I'm on my way to building a new audience for the Blood+ manga. Hopefully I succeed! :)

Of Tears and Tempers

"I'm turning thirty today, Misaki! Thirty! That's three-zero!"

In which Narumi weeps over his thirtieth birthday, and Misaki knocks some sense into his narcissistic little head. Oh, and Persona arrives with a few words of wisdom himself.

Category: Anime/Manga » Gakuen Alice.
Title: Of Tears and Tempers.
Characters: Narumi, Misaki, Persona.
Genre: Drama/General
Rating: K+.
Status: Complete (?)

This was supposed to be a snippet, and it's supposed to be titled Heart. Unfortunately it refused to be concluded - not until it was well past 1000+ words, which is not a snippet anymore. I didn't want to ditch it after taking the time to actually finish it, so I posted it as a one-shot. Besides, Persona needs more love. And fan fictions.

This was prompted by the manga I've been reading, Hana to Akuma (I still insist that Vivi looks a lot like Natsume. A WHOLE FRIKKIN LOT). There was a chapter there about birthdays, which was just funny and random and sweet; I thought I'd write something like it. 

I'm thinking of making this another collection, this time not exclusively about Narumi. I've about a ton of snippet-turned-one-shot that need to be posted out there. And besides it's really fun to mess with Persona and Narumi.

Best part of the fic (at least for me):

"Celebrating old age, Narumi? How interesting. Congratulations on being a step closer to death," Persona said unfeelingly, his cynical smirk as if to remind everyone that he wielded the alice of death.


Yaaay Persona. 

'Stolen from the journal of my Slam Dunk Club in Deviantart. This took quite some time, but I figured it should be fun.

#001 your name (nick name)?
Evette.
#002 Your URL?
http://www.elirhia.blogspot.com

#003 Your Gender?
Female.
#004 Your age?
As young as can be.
#005 What time did you meet SD for the first time?
When I was… ten, I think.
#006 How did you know about SD ?
I saw it on Animax, and hated Hanamichi Sakuragi at first sight. (He looked like Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho!) But the local network showed a dubbed version of it, and I found myself changing my mind about it. And Hanamichi.
#007 what’s your favorite male character?
Hanamichi Sakuragi, of course!
#008 reason for #007?
He doesn’t fail to make me laugh. His silly antics more than make my day.
#009 favorite female character?
There are female characters in Slam Dunk? Oh yeah… well Ayako, I guess.
#010 reason for #009?
She’s energetic and doesn’t hesitate to hit anyone with her paper fan.

#011 essential character (except #007 and #009)?
Kaede Rukawa.
#012 why?
I always crack up when he’s shown sleeping in class, or when he’s always expressionless and casual when he calls Hanamichi an idiot.
#013 favorite minor character?
Kiyota Nobunaga.
#014: why?
He’s as stupid as Hanamichi, which is just hilarious.
#015 favorite team?
Definitely Shohoku!
#016 Why?
Because of Hanamichi! And there’s Coach Anzai, too!
#017 your favorite line and the character who said that?
It was in the manga when Coach Anzai finally said something about Hanamichi being a basketball prodigy, as Rukawa is. I forget how it was phrased exactly, but I like it immensely.
#018 Why?
Because Coach Anzai finally said it! I know that everyone who watches the series already knows this fact, but that a most respected coach like Coach Anzai says it is just awesome.
#019 favorite scene?
When Hanamichi made the final shot that made them win against Sannoh, the top basketball team in Japan.
#020 why?
I thought it was just perfect that he would be the one to lead them to victory. I’ve always known he’s a genius! Hahaha!

#021 impressive scene?
When Hanamichi shows them something completely amazing that even they begin doubting that he’s an idiot at basketball. (Though, it takes him a lot of tries before getting it right, haha.)
#022 Why?
I see how Hanamichi’s character develops, and how he goes through the learning process to be the best he can be. And his arrogance is just hilarious.
#023 tearful scene?
Hanamichi’s first game against Ryonan, and they lost.
#024 Why?
I thought it was perfectly convincing that Hanamichi cried over it. He’s this childish, amateur player who’s always been very arrogant and so sure of himself and what he can do, and to have him being confronted by the fact that there are other players much, much better than him is such an efficient prompt for him to get to his feet and try to best them.
#025 favorite coach?
Definitely Coach Anzai!
#026 favorite comic cover?
…I don’t know.
#027favorite basketball uniform?
Shoyo’s. It looks neat. I also like Shohoku's white uniform.
#028best basketball shooting scene?
Whenever Hanamichi shoots – whether he misses or hits.
#029 best game?
Shohoku vs. Kainan.
#030 dream team members?
Hanamichi Sakuragi, Kaede Rukawa, Kiyota Nobunaga, Shinichi Maki, Soichiro Jin.

#031 MVP player for you?
Either Hanamichi Sakuragi or Kaede Rukawa.
#032 who do you think is gluttonous ?
Hanamichi Sakuragi. I think they showed that in the anime.
#033 do you think who may be drinker?
Soichiro Jin. (Did I just say that? Yes, I did. Hey, you never know.)
#034 do you think who's savage when being angry?
Kaede Rukawa.
#035 do you think who's easily moved to tears?
Ryota Miyagi. He looked pretty funny when he and Hanamichi cried over their, eh, lost loves, hahaha.
#036 do you think who behaves like a baby?
Kiyota Nobunaga. Undoubtedly.
#037 Who's well-bred?
Shinichi Maki.
#038 who's clever?
Kenji Fujima.
#039 Who's good-natured?
Akira Sendoh. Too good-natured, actually; do you remember the instance Hanamichi almost crushed his hand in a handshake. That was fun.
#040: Who do you think will be a good father in the future ?
Akira Sendoh. He’s a nice guy.

#041 Who fits in a women dress?
Takenori Akagi? No, wait, Uozumi, maybe? Hahaha!
#042 Who sings well?
Kiminobu Kogure. Hahaha!
#043 With whom do you want to make friendship?
Hanamichi Sakuragi, Kaede Rukawa, Shinichi Maki, Kiyota Nobunaga.
#044 With whom don't you want to make friendship?
That unimportant school newspaper reporter who ended up fangirling over Rukawa. I don’t know what her name is, but I dislike her immensely.
#045: You want to be in love with ?
I’d rather have them as friends or brothers.
#046: You want to marry?
Like I said, I’d rather have them as friends or brothers.
#047: be a brother or a sister to..?
Shinichi Maki. He looks like a brother material to me. (:
#048 best friends couple?
Hanamichi Sakuragi and Kaede Rukawa; Hanamichi Sakuragi and Kiyota Nobunaga.
#049 no looking high school student?
Shinichi Maki. Hahaha! Hanamichi teased the hell out of him for that!
#050 either "Hanamichi giving a pass to Takasago" or "punched and bloodied Rukawa" you don’t want to see ?
Oh my God, who the hell is Takasago? Is that a nobody character? I guess I’d rather not see either.

#051 what does "Hanamichi" remind you of?
Basketball? Haha. And the word genius.
#052 "Rukawa" reminds you of?
A cat. And how boring school can be sometimes.
#053 "Akagi" reminds you of?
A monkey? No offense, really.
#054 "Mitsui" reminds you of?
My dentist. Eh.
#055 "Miyagi" reminds you of?
A best friend.
#056 Either Kogure or Youhei is analytic?
Youhei, definitely.
#057 Either Rukawa or Mitsui is egocentric ?
Rukawa! Hahaha!
#058 Either Hanamichi or Yohei will win a fight ?
They both will.
#059 Surprising is either "Mitsui who isn't disadvantaged with the gap in his career" or "Hanamichi who play the bascketball only for 3 months"?
Mitsui is more surprising. As we all know, Hanamichi is a genius.
#060 your fave is either Hanamichi or Rukawa?
Hanamichi. But I like Rukawa, too.

#061 your fave is either Haruko or Ayako?
Ayako, hands down.
#062 who’s stronger Sawakita or Sendoh ?
Sawakita, as it would seem. Though I like Sendoh better.
#063 Either Mitsui's shooting or Jin's is more accurate?
I like Jin better, so it must be Jin!
#064 you often forget the one of Takamiya, Noma or Okusu of Sakuragi-gundan?
Noma and Okusu. I think Okusu looks like an old guy, no?
#065 you often forget the one of Kakuta, siozaki, Yasuda, Sasaoka or Kuwata of Shohoku team?
Of those mentioned, I only know Yasuda…
#066 3years later who wins? Hanamichi VS Rukawa VS Sendoh VS Sawakita?
Sakuragi. He will own them!
#067 3 years later Hanamichi and Haruko will be pair?
Nooo. Just no. Haruko is too obsessed with Rukawa.
#068 3 years later Ayako and Ryota will be pair?
Haha, definitely!
#069 Hanamichi's family structure?
He and his father. At least that’s what they showed in the anime.
#070 Rukawa's family structure?
He, his mother and a younger sister. I’m just guessing.

#071 Which team do you want to play with?
Shohoku!
#072 Which team manager do you want to become?
Shohoku – if only to behold Hanamichi’s blunders and triumphs. Oh yeah.
#073 Which school do you want to commute with?
Again, Shohoku.
#074 What nickname does Hanamichi give you?
The Hanamichi Fangirl. Hahaha!
#075 Which type are you? Whom are you like?
Maybe Ayako. I like ordering people around.
#076 Are there anyone like SD character’s around you?
A lot of people like Kaede Rukawa.
#077: what come to your mind when you hear the word Basketball other than Slam Dunk?
Hanamichi Sakuragi… and Hanamichi.
#078 had you been reading SD running in Syuukan Syonen Jump in '90~'96?
What is that?
#079 Do you have the comics?
No.
#080 Do you have Kanzen-ban comics (special ver.in Japanese)?
Nooo.

#081: how many times have you read the manga ?
Just once.
#082 Have you watch the anime?
Yes.
#083 Do you have any "the scecret of SD"series books?
No.
#084 Do you have any SD goods?
No.
#085 Have you read "Vagabond"?
No.
#086 Have you read "Miyamoto Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa?
No.
#087 Have you read "Real"?
No.
#088 Have you read "Chameleon Jail"?
No. What is that? What are all these things? *is lost*
#089 Have you seen NBA games? Fave team?
I’ve seen the games; I don’t really care much for the teams.
#090 Were you interested in basketball games before meeting SD?
Nope. I never was, until Slam Dunk. This makes it even more awesome, since it got me interested in basketball. Hurrah.

#091 Do you wanna have a trip to see SD related spot?
I'm not totally interested, since I won't see the Slam Dunk characters there anyway.
#092 where do you find Inoue-sensei's genius in ?
In all of Slam Dunk.
#093 Hanamichi should be the main character on SD part2, too?
There’s a second part?! Whoa. He definitely should be!
#094 Who should appear on SD part 2?
Hanamichi, Rukawa, Maki, Kiyota, Jin… and all of my favorite characters.
#095 Who VS who do you want to read on part 2?
Hanamichi vs. Rukawa.
#096 Do you wanna see part 2?
Yes! Of course!
#097 Do you think SD part 2 will start? If so, when will it start?
I have no idea. But it should start very, VERY soon.
#098 either SD or Vagabond is your fave?
Obviously SD. I don’t even know what Vagabond is.
#099 any comments to Inoue-sensei?
You are a genius. Thank you for creating Hanamichi Sakuragi and Slam Dunk in all of their wonderful glory.
#100 Please tell how much you love SD.
I love Slam Dunk more than I can possibly ever say. That is all.

I was browsing through the forums of CGFFN when I chanced upon the LelouchC.C. forums. One of their topics include anime/manga recommendations, which I thought I'd give a try (CGFFN is an intelligent fandom, no questions asked). Someone mentioned Hanatsuki Hime, and how it resembles Code Geass in such a way that it's also mainly about a contract between two people. While in Code Geass it's between a witch and a human being, in Hanatsuki Hime it's between a demon and a human being. 

Lys Lily

I've finished the first chapter of the first volume, and I have to say it's definitely promising. Lys Lily is quite a character; none too perfect or complex, but interesting enough to keep me reading. I love the flower seal on her chest; it looks so very cryptic. 

S

Siva

Siva, whom as they say is "drool-worthy", is Lys' companion, and I can honestly say I agree about the drool-worthy part, hahaha.

I'm just saddened by the fact that the manga has only two volumes; I wish it could have been longer. I just love the storyline.

If you want to download the scans, you can go here: Aerandia.Net : Hanatsuki Hime. If you'd just like to read online, drop by here: Onemanga : Hanatsuki Hime.

Don't hesitate to drop me a comment about the manga and its story; I'd love to know if you like it as well. But give no spoilers, please; I still can't finish it until after my  major exams!

And so I've moved for the nth time. Because I can't stay in one place (err, site), just like a nomad.

All updates about me, my fan fictions, and my favorite anime/manga would be posted here. To this effect, I have deleted my Tumblr account, as I'm decided to maintain this site alone. It's most convenient, and I find my current template absolutely gorgeous. ♥

In any case, I wanted to inform everyone that the polls for the third and last HGAFFC are finally up. You can go here if you haven't read the entries, and then proceed here to vote for your fave. Meanwhile, the link to the newsletter subscription can be found right here. Polls will be closed on February 6, 2010, so cast your votes early.

Well I think that's about it, aside from the fact that I'm on an indefinite writing break.