Book Club - by Suhaili

Adventure & Historical - Book Club

MAR manga review

August 28th 2009 07:45

Another manga created by Nobuyuki Anzai. MAR stands for Marchen Awaken Romance.

Genres: action, adventure, comedy, fantasy

Synopsis: Ginta is an ordiary 14-year old boy, but he keeps constantly getting a weird dream that turns into reality when he gets sucked into an alternate world. Upon entering the world, he aquires the dangerous ARM - Babbo, in which killed many people until it was sealed years ago. Upon acquiring it, Ginta faces many test, which will eventually leads him to the truth about his father, and will strengthen him for the last test, to fight against the evil Flag Army

Source: Anime News Network

Comment:

If you have read my previous review about Flame of Recca, I have a feeling that you might expect the hentai element is present in this manga. I don't know it's a good news to you or not but apparently there are no such things in this manga. Since the story revolves around a middle school kid, you shouldn't expect those kind of element exist in this manga.

Okay, I'll stop blabbering with hentai (mind you, I NEVER OBSESSED WITH HENTAI!!!!). The storyline is pretty easy to understand even though there are some part of the storyline reveals each past. But still, it's fairly straightforward storyline which I like it. Obviously, this manga also has many battles just like Flame of Recca but the only difference is the battle scene is mild compared to Flame of Recca. If you don't like violence, this manga is perfect for you.

One of the thing I really love with this manga is it has a lot of ARM with unique design and functions and some of the ARM resembles silver accessories that I used to see in Silver Accessories magazine. This is the thing that I would like to ask Anzai-sensei whether he got his inspirations for ARM design from silver accessories magazine or not. I don't like silver accessories but I think the design for ARM is cool. I wish silver accessories can be just like ARM. Otherwise, I don't mind spending as long as I have a weapon in my disposal, lol.

Anyway, the artwork is a lot better than the one in Flame of Recca. I can say that the artwork looks neater and child-like compared to Flame of Recca so looking at those artwork makes it easier for me to read the manga. Not just that, the manga panel is also nicely done. Take a look at yourself here:

Well, this manga is different than Flame of Recca but it's still a great manga. I personally love this manga as much as I like Flame of Recca. This manga is a must read whether you are a fan of Nobuyuki Anzai or not.

You can read my Flame of Recca manga review here

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Posted By: Suhaili - Category: Adventure & Historical

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The Youngest Templar

October 10th 2008 05:14

This is a new kids-aimed fantasy/historical novel and from what I understand it is the first volume in what will probably be a trilogy if not a series of novels (novellas). I went into this book not really expecting anything, it was sent to me from over the seas (okay, from America) and I found it to be a rollicking and pleasant read.

It is the middle ages (more specifically, the dark ages). Tristan is a young orphan of mysterious origins who is co-opted into the order of the Knights Templar and finds himself flung headfirst into the Crusades. Sooner or later he and his kindly master find themselves in a Saracen-enforced seige (soon to be slaughter) and Tristan is entrusted with a valuable Templar artifact (okay, it's the Holy Grail) and given instructions to take it to safety. Boundless adventure ensues!

Like I said earlier, this is a pleasant read. There's nothing pretentious or forced about it, it's an historical adventure aimed at a young audience but fit to read for anyone who likes this sort of thing. I tend to like this sort of thing. It's peppered with lots of cool medieval details, and it could probably be called semi-educational in respect to how realistic it reads (but not in a dry, non-kid friendly way). The Crusades aren't the most fun-packed of historical events and the author does well not to sugarcoat or romantacize it. The writing style is effective, and the characterisations are memorable and seemingly effortless - which is no mean feat when you've only got 240 pages and a fairly large font to work with.

There were two little things that kind of threw me off a bit. The first, and more major one, was the inclusion of a cast of supporting characters that seem to have come straight from the story of Robin Hood. I was left scratching my head a bit as to the relevance of this... it's as if the author felt his story wasn't strong enough on it's own so he went and chucked in some medieval 'celebrities' to keep the kids entertained. I want to say that it wasn't necessary but this is the first book in a series so I'll reserve judgement in case the real relevance of this becomes more apparent in later volumes. The second quibble, and this is a more minor one (and the blame may fall on the publishing company rather than the author), is the decision to use American spellings rather than English. Normally I wouldn't care but it just feels wrong given the subject matter, setting, and the fact that the whole thing is concerned with English events and English history. It's a first-hand account told from the point of a view of an English peasant boy... for him to adopt American spelling when America hasn't even come into existence yet is just jarring. It hardly effected my enjoyment of the book but this is my blog and I'll get on my soapbox as much as I like, so nyah.

I hate to start all my final paragraphs with 'anyway' but anyway, this is a great action-packed fast-paced novel and I'd recommend it to any parents looking to get their boys interested in reading. The parents might even like to read it too.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Adventure & Historical

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The Power of One

January 6th 2007 00:36

If Bryce Courtenay is Australia's biggest selling author, and 'The Power of One' his biggest selling, most popular and enduring book, does that make 'The Power of One' Australia's biggest novel? Australia's habit for appropriating other country's products (EG. Crowded House, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson) aside, I'd be inclined to say no, if only because it's so completely a novel of South Africa... of South African origins and about the country itself - it's history, it's people, it's problems and it's hopes. It's tantamount to Courtenay's talent that the novel transcends these nationalistic ties and speaks to readers everywhere on a private level, charting the human condition in trying times and connecting with it's audience by tieing us to the protagonist's epic journey to manhood.

PeeKay is a troubled young Rooinek (what the Afrikaners call English South Africans). He has been sent to a boarding school made up almost entirely of Boers, and with the approach of World War II the Boer children threaten to march PeeKay (along with all the other English people) into the sea when their saviour Hitler comes to liberate the Afrikaners. PeeKay wets the bed, he is bullied and beaten by a child known as the Judge, and it is only through a special meeting with a Zulu medicine man that he is able to find an inner strength that allows him to overcome these obstacles.

We follow PeeKay throughout his childhood, from World War II-era South Africa through to the beginnings of Apartheid, and witness the emergence of a special kind of intelligence, a deep desire to always win, and the strength of the 'power of one'. Through a meeting with trainguard-cum-boxer Hoppie Groenweld, PeeKay happens upon an early ambition to become welterweight champion of the world in boxing. Everything he does after this is tinged with his urgent desire to box. His adventures after this are too numerous and complex to go into detail about... he befriends a German music professor named Doc, learns how to box in a South African prison, attends an elitist school for English South Africans, becomes the Onoshobishobi Ingelosi (Zulu for 'Tadpole Angel') and works in a dangerous mine in Rhodesia. It's a colourful and unpredictable journey, and it takes us right up the beginning of PeeKay's manhood.

'The Power of One' is a classic. At first I read it looking for something along the lines of the film 'The Power of One', but the book and the film bear very little resemblence to one another. I'm not bagging the film, I still enjoyed it, but they are about different things. Where the film focused more on the race situation in South Africa and PeeKay's role as an equaliser between the many tribes, the book is more about PeeKay's journey to self-actualisation and the point where he triumphs over his own inner loneliness. The racial themes are still there, but the book is a little more realistic about the nature of PeeKay's inner quest.

Courtenay's technique is deceptively easy to read. Calling upon his own experiences, he bundles up South African history and kneads it into the text liberally, making for a fascinating background to PeeKay's story. The style is a first-person narrative, told by PeeKay from the age of 4 to the age of 18, and we get a curious mix of childhood perception and adult hindsight - whilst it's not as experimental, realistic or in-the-moment as 'Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha', it suits the purposes of 'The Power of One' entirely, allowing for a child's-eye view coupled with an adult understanding of the bigger picture - hence we get asides and explanations about the South African situation throughout the 1940s.

Courtenay also demonstrates an almost Dickensian approach to plot and character. It's a big story and we are shown various wonderful characters throughout PeeKay's life - even the briefest-appearing character is memorable. It's a talent of Courtenay's that we don't lose ourself in the mammoth and ever-changing cast of characters. Likewise, the plot is refreshingly old fashioned - simply charting a fictional life in a non-fictional setting, without contrivances and circular subplots.

I really loved this book. I was sad to see it finish and I can see myself reading it's followup, 'Tandia', in the not too distant future. It's the kind of book that almost anyone can enjoy and - therefore - I would reccomend it to almost anyone.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Adventure & Historical

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