Eto ne, I'm finally back on my blog after god-knows-how-long. Recently, the skies haven't exactly been the prettiest and I haven't been as hale and hearty as I should have been. Yes, imagine it- I've been down with fever, diarrhoea, nausea and what sickly disorientations you have, for TWO WHOLE FRIGGIN' weeks. So it would make me seem like a triple offender (the days I've not been going for club is three days) but hell, not like I care. My club isn't going to bring me up to heaven. Without my health- I am.

Today, as I blog this, my own Secondary School is having its annual open house. Honestly speaking, I was looking forward to it. I wanted to perform again. But well, since I missed my very last year of being able to participate in it... I don't really care no more. For one very simple reason- I don't like my school THAT much so well heck, when parents ask me, "What is good about this school?" And my response would most likely be either, "Uhhh... I don't know, hang on. (looks around) Psst! Psst! Can you come over here and answer this highly difficult question?" or, "What's good about this school? Ahahahaha! You want to know my honest opinion? Well, here goes- NOTHING."

Either way, while I was sick, I could not do much. All the things I wanted to do- I couldn't. I could not play my NDS, I could not read my manga, I could not sit down and read a book- because those required too much attention. So I only randomly surfed a few webpages, checked email and all. It was a horrible, dreadful feeling to just sit around, and having that revolting sensation surging through your veins.

However once it reached day 3, which was yesterday, I could do something. So what I did was to go online and read manga. And what did I read? The number one manga on Mangafox- Psyren. I wanted to know what was so good about the manga. What captivated people. And I finished all 142 chapters of it (it was updated till there)in that very day itself.

So what are my opinions about it? If I were to give some scores:

Plot: 6.5/10
Characterization: 9/10
Development of Plot: 7/10

Truthfully, the plot did not fascinate me enough. It was a good read, something that will honestly kill your time. There was nothing really of the 'WOW' factor in there. The background to the story seemed cryptic and it drew me in initially, and I was thinking it was going to be a long, long story, but turns out, it was actually pretty short. Despite the length of 142 chapters, each chapter lasts about 20 pages and are very easy to finish.

[SPOILER]

It's a story set in Japan, in Year 2008, whereby there is a news, about a spate of human disappearances on the rise. One day, in school, Yoshina Ageha's childhood friend, Amamiya Sakurako, disappears right before with his eyes, not forgetting to mention "Save me." Spurred on by her words, Yoshina decides to check out her disappearance, knowing it is somehow linked to the "Psyren" card that both she and him hold. How did they get the card? They seem somehow sick of the society and are seeking for "Paradise". The card came out of a telephone, from a public telephone booth.

He decided to enter the card into a public telephone, and was then asked a questionairre of all sorts of bizarre questions. However, he did not finish the quiz, and instead screamed at the lady who asked her the questions and hung up, thinking that it was all a messed up game and that he wasn't going to rescue Amamiya.

He lingers around, and realizes that this card he holds is highly priced in the society, and that the government and what-have-you, mafia bosses or whatever, are all seeking for this card, due to the special phenomenon it seems to be causing and they are desperate for answers. During a fight with a bunch of bad dudes over the card, his phone rang. Unknowingly, he answered the call to start the ringing sound- and he was summoned to another world.

It was a world of ruins and sand and collapsed buildings. It was a wrecked world where the sky was hazy and there seemed to be no sun. While Yoshina was busy wondering where the hell he was- he was attacked by this monster, and while he scrambles back, someone slices it in half.

Correct, it was his childhood friend, Amamiya Sakurako.

From there on they know, this world, is the future "world". Where humanity seems to have been wiped out, and monsters rages on. The bunch of people find a telephone, which gives them instructions, a map, and a final destination point. After fending off a bunch of monsters, they make it back to present Japan where they were supposed to be in. Afterwards, they learn all about PSYREN from Amamiya's sensei, Matsuri, who told them it is a 'game' that Nemesis Q has created. The card, when placed to the forehead, shows some digits, and that is the 'credit' on the card. Every visit you make into the 'future', the digit decreases and when it reaches ZERO, you have cleared the game and will no longer be summoned into that world. Also, they learn of the hidden 'Psi' that all humans have- just that it has been sealed away. The trip to future has unlocked it. So now our main guy- Yoshina, is going to have some kick-ass powers. Sort of.

The bad guys in the series are known as WISE, people who obviously claim to be 'wise' and want a new revolution- a new world, new humans, and all. They are the ones responsible for the destruction of humanity, and the leader of it all is a man named Amagi Miroku. He was once a test subject for the government, and given special Psi powers.

So basically the story goes on, Yoshina and 'gang' travel in and out of future, learning about what happened in the future, travelling back to the present, and making changes to the present, to prevent the future.

What I basically liked about the whole story was the smooth flow of events. All the dots were properly connected (in a sense) and there was not major loophole (at least not that I can sense) and VERY likeable characters. Even though Yoshina and Amamiya were kind of MEH, the rest of them were actually quite good. Especially the BAD guys. They were more interesting than the good guys for hell's sake.

And sad to say, the plot was very predictable. Yeah, I hate suspense, but when things get too cliched, it becomes a drag. The fighting scenes sometimes were good, but were all TOO short-lived. It ends in a few bloody pages. Nothing really goes on! That's not what you expect in a shounen manga. At least award readers with something good. Fight longer! Don't end it in just a couple of pages. It's not interesting at all, seriously.

Lastly, my big question is, WHAT'S UP WITH THE 'ROMANCE'? To me, it felt like a lump of contorted mess being dumped right inside a nicely brewed soup. It really ruined my impression of the manga. It was just... just... probably because I am also a shoujo-manga reader that's why I found it unbearable, but seriously! Let me tell you what happened in the manga, with sarcasm.

Yoshina: Amamiya... You cared for me when I was young... I grew up and I love you.

Amamiya: Oh... Yoshina, y-you... you don't know... You have always cared for me ever since we entered this world... I love you too!

THE END. THANK YOU FOR READING.

Like hell. That's it. Yoshina pats her on the head and blah, and YAY she falls for him. And uhh, when Yoshina's mother died, Amamiya stayed with him and cheered him up, but you know what? Before the PSYREN incident, they were in the same class and bloody- he did not do a thing! Afterwards, he said he did not understand his bloody feelings until he and Amamiya spent a LITTLE time together. I mean, I don't know. People who have read it will. And then Amamiya becomes all, "I want to fight beside Yoshina!!!" and I'm like, "WHATEVER!!!!!"



Best of Jaejin video. IT IS UTTERLY ADORABLE. (gets away from Psyren topic) The creator did a good job in it. VERY VERY VERY CUTE.



AWESOME-NESS. I loved it. This one was them in a school. Jaejin and Minhwan. If I ever saw them in my school, I mean guys like them, what an enriching SCHOOLGIRL life I would be having. Too bad, in MY school, fairytales are burned to dust.

So all in all, this is D3stinyx saying goodbye.

I'd... remember to update Koi no Kisetsu. Soon. I think.

In the meantime you guys should just read 1/2 Heart. Honestly. I liked it. XD

Signing off.