God Lies.

Natsuru, Rio, and Yuta have a life changing
summer break

Konnichiwa~

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I wish had some Martin Luther King Jr. manga for the occasion, but as far as I know, there is none. I did bring a beautiful slice of life though. It’s my first and is called Kami-sama ga Uso o Tsuku. by Ozaki Kaori. I actually started this manga a while back, I rediscovered it yesterday and have no idea why I didn’t finish it, its one of the best series I’ve read, its style is very similar to Koe na Katachi. It’s a short series, complete with one volume long with 5 chapters. It has been completely scanlated, and I highly recommend checking it out right now. And I hope this becomes a movie soon because it would a freaking amazing movie. Anyway, let’s start like I always do, with the plot:

Natsuru Nanao is 11 years old and is about to begin summer break. Ever since he turned down Hime, the “leader” of the girls in his class, on Valentine’s Day, she and her followers have been ignoring him. But since he’s just an 11 year old boy, he really doesn’t care and can live a happy life as long as he has soccer. But that’s ruined for him after his kind old coach is hospitalized and replaced by a mean one, a guy that takes elementary school soccer much too seriously.

Rio began Natsuru's coming
of age journey

Anyway, before summer break begins, Rio Suzumura suddenly talks to him, making a brief comment about the curtains being clean. He doesn’t think much of it, simply surprised to have a girl talk to him at all. Later in the night, after he finds a white kitten, he runs into Rio and her younger brother Yuta. Since he can’t keep the kitten, he asks if she possibly can. Yuta jumps with joy at the idea, but Rio quickly reminds him that they can’t afford the living expenses. He offers to pay for them, wanting to find the cat a home. She agrees and they end up going to her home, where he discovers her secret: Rio and Yuta live alone. She explains that he father is away for work and begs him not to tell anyone because they don’t want to be separated from their

father and sent into a foster care. Though shocked and confused, he agrees.

With this, a bond grows between the two and thus they begin a fate changing summer together.

Well I really should say all three of them, since Yuta is also part of this journey. Though some might not consider him an important character, I was really fond him and his energetic spirit. I also loved the strong bond he shares with his older sister, whom he obliviously loves, respects, and relies on. Which is natural since Rio is a very reliable child. Though she’s only 11 years old, she can run their household efficiently and is the mature person needed for their survival. Both of them are very strong, having experienced much pain and heartbreak that children should never have to. Despite her air of maturity, Rio is still a child and shows her more gentle and cheerful sides to Natsuru as he grows closer to the family of two. Natsuru has the heart of a hero. He’s a rather mature for a child as well, his mother Ritchan often busy with her manuscripts for light novels. They have a very good relationship though and he’s lived a relatively normal life up until now. He’s a kind and protective, someone very good at taking care of others. If he cares about someone enough, he will do anything to protect them, even if it means ruining his reputation or getting in trouble. He is also a very bright person, someone who Yuta and Rio have fun with.

One of my favorite covers

He also has this wonder to him because he has such big dreams and seems very passionate about them.
This is his coming-of-age story, you see him learn about the unjust things that happen in this world and experience his first love.

Though the series is short, the plot isn’t rushed or anything. The romance is moves at a good pace, a slow growing innocent love between Natsuru and Rio. The only thing missing is maybe the ending. I would’ve liked a scene or two more. Besides that, it was an beautiful slice of life (I seem to be seeing a lot of these lately) and I really hope it gets published in English so I can buy it. I give it a perfect 10 out of 10 monohorrns. It deserves it, having nice art, lovable characters, and a realistic, sad, and amazing plot. Again, I highly recommend it. A coming of age story in which a child realize, even God lies.

Bye-bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

You are My Pet/Tramps Like Us

Sumire and Momo

Konnichiwa

Today I’ll be reviewing the josei  Kimi wa Pet by Ogawa Yayoi. The series is actually a spin-off of another one of her series, Candy Life, which I plan on reading later. The series is 14 volumes in total and is completely scanlated. Lets begin:

Sumire Iwaya is an intelligent, successful, and beautiful woman who works for a big newspaper, though not in the department she wants. She has big dreams and hopes to one day transfer to a more serious department, such as the English news section. She’s a determined woman with big dreams who wants to maintain her image and apparently too intimidating for her fiancée. He tells her she is too perfect, and that being around her is uncomfortable. Heartbroken, frustrated, and depressed, she returns home, where she finds an unconscious young man lying in a box in front of her home. She takes the young man inside, who quickly becomes comfortable, acting happy-go-lucky and appearing rather simple-minded. He’s personality and curly hair reminds her of her childhood dog “Momo”. She comments how she could keep him as pet, and he tells her he’d be perfectly fine with that. Thus, he is named Momo and “officially” becomes her pet. Though a rather unusual relationship, the two of them easily accept it and begin their life together. While she attempts to keep him a secret from her co-workers and later her conventionally perfect boyfriend, the two of them grow closer and closer, developing a strong bond.

And since this is a romance, this bond steadily becomes love.

Well, steadily on Sumire’s part. Momo falls in love very early in the series, and he does a great job of hiding it. Though he appears carefree and simple-minded, Momo, or Takashi, is actually very clever and complex, he can also be very serious at times: when he does show his seriousness, Sumire is always shaken and unsure

what to do. He loves dancing, but unsure about his future. You really see him mature and grow as the series goes on. And even though Sumire is more settled into her life as an adult, you also see her grow as a person. In the beginning, she isn’t very honest with herself or those around her: in front of everyone beside Momo, she tries to act like the perfect woman, always confident, calm, and collective. Her family is extremely strict, judging, and prestigious, so it makes sense that she would put up this front. With Momo, she lets herself be the lazy, emotional, and insecure. She can be a crybaby, a smoker, and a excited pro-wrestling fan. Even with the man she planned on marrying, who she planned on spending the rest of her life with, she put on this act. But the same way she helps Momo mature, he helps her grow and get rid of this façade. Gradually, her co-workers realize she isn’t cold and always serious, they see her slightly dorky personality.

Main Characters: Momo, Sumire, Sumire's hilarious best
friend, Sumire's boring perfect boyfriend(and first love),
and annoying (and pitiful) Shiori

I rarely enjoy slow romance, usually because the ones I find have ridiculously slow pace, but I liked the pace of this one. I liked seeing their love grow, I think because seeing their master-pet friendship was entertaining and the other characters they interacted with were compelling. Their past also played a big part in the story, so when a new aspect of their past was revealed, there was always a ripple in their relationship. A change

preceded by a little bit of drama. There was something to hold your attention besides the slow building romance. I feel in many slow romances, there isn’t much there, so gets boring. Something that does bother me though is her boyfriend Hasumi. They met in college and is Sumire's first love. He is kind, loving, and appears to be nearly perfect, but he got on my nerves quite a bit. He claims he wants to see the real Sumire, but not the "real" Sumire. I felt he had his own illusion of her true self and didn't understand her very well. He does really care about her though, so I can't really dislike him too much. I got impatient with Sumire at times too: every time they were together she had to act, she even states numerous times that its exhausting being with him too long. So why be with him? But in her mind, since she loves him so much its only natural to try so hard to keep him. I kind of understand it and I kind of don't, sometimes I was annoyed and sometimes I was sympathetic.
Anyway, this manga manages to be a realistic slice of life while also being an unrealistic comedy; and I love that when things do start getting unrealistic, the characters’ sort of point it out. Though there were parts in the manga that confused me, they're usually insignificant dreams that you can move past.

Overall, a really great josei. I know it’s also been adapted to a drama and a live-action movie. I think I’ll check one of them out since I really enjoyed the odd story based around a pet and master relationship, the characters, and watching their love grow.

Bye-Bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

Royal Pirates "Drawing the Line" Review

                Hey it’s Ms. Lee Min Ho, today I am doing another Music Video review from this amazing group that debuted in Korea last year but they have been a group since 2004. I have been obsessed over them and they are freaking talented I can’t get over them. Their name is Royal Pirates; they are composed of three members which are Moonchul the lead singer, Sooyoon the drummer, and James Lee who is the guitar player. They actually started of their group here in America but then later on went to Korea after doing Korean covers. Their music video is called Drawing the Line there mini album is also called the same.

                The song is about how the girl is his pain but also his love. Even though they might have problems he can’t live without. They might go through problems but it’s worth it because she makes his world interesting. The music video was so adorable and awesome I loved how Moonchul was trying to hit on girls but they all rejected him. It was mostly them being in photo shoots, having interviews, and make videos shoots but people keep on wanting more or different concepts from them. I enjoyed the song, the lyrics are great I adored when Moonchul sings, “What’s the sun without rain”. I loved the video as well it was cute and funny my favorite part in the video was when Busker Busker Brad came out, I almost squealed during that part. I couldn’t believe it; I didn’t even know they knew each other I was so freaking happy. It has to really be my favorite music videos yet this year. Their whole album is great I hope to see a full album soon. This group is just truly talented and different from other groups; people really need to check them out so go watch their music video and listen to their whole album now.  Please check out my previous post which wasN.O.M Review. Thanks for reading our blog I really appreciated it please support us. 

Music Video

Podcast

Please check out our blog:monohorns.blogspot.com/

Please like us on facebook:www.facebook.com/Monohorns

Check out our Google+: monohorns

Follow us on twitter:twitter.com/monohorns96

N.O.M Review

Hey it’s Ms. Lee Min Ho, today I am reviewing another Korean Group that debuted a few months ago. This group is so different form the usually male group which makes them remarkable. Nadeshiko-chan and I call them leather daddies because they wear a lot of leather and are always shirtless. Their name is N.O.M which stands for Name of Men.

                What makes this group so different and so awesome is that they are doing a gay concept. Their music video is called “A Guy” it’s pretty sexual for my taste but it isn’t too bad. They are shirtless most of the time wearing leather tights or wearing leather underwear. I like them because of the way they dress it shows that they have guts and aren’t embarrassed of their sexuality. I am really happy that this group debuted in Korea because it’s showing that being Gay is okay and it is slowly giving people the confidence to come out in Korea. This group is doing more than just singing they are showing that it’s okay to be comfortable for whom you are and it doesn’t really matter what other think as long as you are happy with yourself. I hope that more people start liking and accepting this group because they are talented and have a lot of guts for what they are doing. I didn’t review their music video I mostly just wanted to talk about this group and spread the word about them. So please check out their music video and tell people about them. Thanks for reading my post please check out my previous post B1A4 Lonely Review .

Music Video:

Please check out our blog:monohorns.blogspot.com/

Please like us on facebook:www.facebook.com/Monohorns
Check out our Google+: monohorns

Follow us on twitter:twitter.com/monohorns96

Podcast:

Hal ~ The Movie

Konnichiwa~ 

“What if your lover died, you lost your will to live, and a robot was sent to you that looked like your lost lover?”

I recently watched the animated film Hal directed by Ryotaro Makihara. It is based off the manga Hal by Ayase Umi, which I have not read, so I can’t really say how accurately it follows it. The manga is only 1 volume long though, so I feel it couldn’t have left much out. It is completely scanlated for those who are interested, I might get around to reading it later, for now I am satisfied with beautiful movie. Let’s begin:

The story takes place in a technologically advanced society in which robots can be programmed to behave just like humans. They appear and move very humanistic, and it’s even possible to change their outer appearance so that they look completely human.

The android Q01 does just this in order to help a forlorn heart recover from the death of their lover.

After Hal’s death, Kurumi has lost the will to live. Her concerned grandfather begs Q01 to replace “Hal”, hoping that his presence will help her come to terms with Hal’s death and move forward. As the android takes of care of her, he learns about human life, Hal’s life, and Kurumi’s feelings for him. At first she keeps her distance, disgusted by the gesture. But gradually, she begins to open up to robot Hal. A heartwarming romance, but probably not in the sense you’re thinking. It focuses more on real Hal’s relationship with Kurumi

I’m not a very big fan of sci-fi: I don’t read stories about aliens and usually avoid stories about androids. But I kept hearing great things about this film, so I decided to check it out and I’m glad I did. Robot Hal is so sweet and adorably simple. He genuinely wants to bring Kurumi happiness, wants the bright smile he sees in old photographs to return. He’s kind and friendly, able to make friends with nearly everyone he interacts with. He is rather cautious about the original Hal, wondering who the person he has “replaced” was. He

learns from others that he was energetic, rather short-tempered, and because of his past, insecure about how little money he had. Overall though, he seemed to have been a kind person. A person Kurumi desperately wanted to protect: she appears most gentle when thinking of Hal and what he had to endure. She was a compassionate person, very cheerful and popular in their small community. But that isn’t the girl Hal is dealing with. He knows she once existed because of pictures from before the accident, but the one he sees now is cold, apathetic, and disinterested in the world around her.

The movie’s art and animation are beautiful. I saw the original manga art before watching the movie and was a little worried that they animators were going to ruin its cute, modern-shoujo style. The scenes were beautiful, my favorite was part of the climax so I can’t really describe it, but it was very emotional and well done.

I highly recommend this movie, its cute and heartwarming. The love Hal and Kurumi had for each other is endearing and after watching it, it easily became one of my favorite romances. I hope you watch it or read the manga

Bye-bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

New Chapter: Ao Haru Ride Chatper 36

One of my favorite scenes from
the latest chapters

Konbanwa~
The last Ao Haru Ride I went over was chapter 33.
In chapter 34 and 35, we saw a gap grow between Kou and Futuba as she began dating Kikuchi. She wants to be faithful to Kikuchi and chase out all her feelings for Kou from her heart.
The thing is, she really shouldn't have too, because the feelings are mutual. Why is Kou hesitating? I didn't understand it at all at first, but it seems that he didn't like leaving things on a bad note with Narumi; he's the type of person that likes to type up all his loose ends. Which is rather admirable, expect it seems to be causing his downfall as Futuba becomes closer and closer to Kikuchi. He's been rather tragic in these last few chapters, looking forlorn. He wants to capture Futuba, but he also doesn't want to destroy the happiness she's experiencing in the relationship; he's often reminded by Shuuko, who warns him not to approach her halfheartedly. The thing is, I think he should realize that he isn't half-hearted: he obviously loves her very much and has for a very long time. Though I can see why he's hesitating, I don't agree that he should suppress his feelings. Well, when there this strong, they can't be suppressed for long. The same goes for Futuba, even as she runs away from him, she unconsciously knows it isn't possible. That's all, bye-bye.

~Nadeshiko-chan

The Shape of Voice ~ The Series

Ishida messing with Nishimiya

Konnichiwa~

Today I’ll be reviewing Koe no Katachi by Ooima Yoshitoki. Some of you might have read my earlier post about this story. That was the original oneshot.

Here’s a link to that review:

http://monohorns.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-shape-of-voice.html

Anyway, the oneshot grew into a series! It is ongoing, currently on volume 3 in Japan. It has been scanlated to chapter 20, its updated reguraly Now let’s begin:

The story begins with the protagonist, Shouya Ishida, in primary school. He is fun-loving, selfish, and simple-minded; he’s goal is to chase away the boredom that threatens each day. One day a girl named Shouko Nishimiya transfers into his class. When she introduces herself, she uses a notebook to explain that she is deaf, but will uses this notebook to communicate with them. For a short while, the class tries to get along with her. Soon these insensitive children and homeroom teacher grow tired of her. Ishida leads the class in bullying her, thinking of her as a toy he can torment each and every day. Despite this, Nishimiya holds onto her dignity, even attempting to look past his cruel actions and make friends with Ishida. He brusquely rejects her.

But soon he is punished. The principal finds out about the abuse Nishimiya has been enduring and demands answers. The class that had happily followed his lead turns on him, turns him into a scapegoat and burns him.

By high school, Ishida hated everyone
around him

As horrible as he was, it broke my heart to see Ishida lose all his friends, even if his friends were also horrible monsters. It made me hate the homeroom teacher even more when he did nothing about him being bullied, blatantly calling him a liar. Ishida doesn’t realize Nishmiya’s kindness, not until she transfers. He spends years hating everyone around him, rejecting them from his reality and living unhappily alone.

One day he imagines his future and believing it’ll only be suffering, he decides to kill himself. But before that, he wants to apologize to Nishimiya for his cruelty.

During their reunion, he suddenly asks if they could be friends. He hadn’t planned on this at all, he was simply going to apologize and then commit suicide. But after she happily accepts his request, he decides he won’t kill himself; decides to be her friend, to be someone who is worthy of being her friend. Though aware he can’t give her back her happy elementary school days, he wants to make her as happy as he can right now.

It’s was a beautiful oneshot and an even more beautiful series.

The main character of the series is the reflective Shouya Ishida. As a child he was cruel, selfish, obnoxious, and insensitive, but after enduring bullying and isolation, after seeing how ugly humans can be, he learns. Even as a child you could see he cared about his family, so he wasn’t a complete jerk. As a teenager he is

After becoming friends, both of them
worried whether the other really
thought of them as one.
After they clear things up, they happily
feed the fish together.

awkward, but very kind. He’s a dutiful son, a caring brother, and a loving uncle. Eventually, he proves to be a good friend to not only to Nishimiya, but to her arrogant younger sibling and his dorky classmate. There is something very noble about him and I really admire his desire to grow as a person

Then there’s Shouko Nishimiya who is just as admirable; she’s endured years of bullying because of her disability, yet she hasn’t become bitter or cynical. She’s remained sweet, optimistic, and gentle. She’s not weak; I think many people mistake her ability to forgive others as meekness or weakness, but it’s definitely strength. After all, it takes a lot of strength to forgive and smile at someone who deserves to be punched in the face. Plus she’s so adorable, I simply love her character.

A slow love is blossoming between these two characters and the author is doing a great job of developing it. Its slow and steady, shown more from Ishida’s point of view. I hope that the author will take time to show Nishimiya’s perspective. That’s probably the stories only fault, we don’t get to see her point of view as much as we’d like.

The art is rough, but very realistic. Usually I don’t like this type of shounen art, but I like this one, it suites the series well. I found it very hard deciding what pictures to use for this post, many of the stood out to me. Really I found all the pages had their own charm that deserved to be shown off; which I think is the sign of a great artist. 

Anyway, I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful slice of life, I hope you all check it out. Bye-bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

B1A4 Lonely Review

Hey its Ms. Lee Min Ho, yes I am back it has been so long that I haven’t reviewed things. But now that I took this break I will be able to review a lot more for you guys. I hope you enjoy them, so today I will review B1a4 Lonely Music video off of their Who I am album. I will give a small review of their album at the end of the whole review.

                This whole week I have been waiting patiently for the Music Video to come out. I was so happy and content with the video it was just so perfect. I personally didn’t like their last album with the song What’s Happening, I was really disappointed with it but this song gained my love for B1A4 again. The music video was truly incredible. I loved how everything was white it made the video look warm but pure as well. I also really liked how the main girl was floating away but because Jin-Yong loves her to much he can’t let her go. The video showed every member which I felt so satisfied with it didn’t leave a member out or showed one member more than another one. The parts in the song were always distributed well, I enjoyed listing to CNU and Sanduel parts they were so great and filled with passion. I really liked what the song was saying which said that everything Jin-Yong does he thinks of the girl he loves. He can’t get her out of his mind not matter what, he wants her back. It’s very simple but a perfect song.  There was not a single thing that I hated about the music video and song. The song and music video both made sense and related to each other which made me happy. This was a perfect comeback for B1A4 the album gives a group a very mature feel. The whole album is so great I am listening to it again, I love every freaking song. I was so happy knowing that Sanduel and Gongchan had a song together; you were really able to hear their amazing voices and feel their emotion. I was also super happy knowing that CNU had his own song in the album as well it was fantastic. It had a very disco feel to it.

              I give the music video and album a 10 out of 10 monohorns. I recommend everyone to listen to their album and watch their video if you are a fan or not. This album truly shows how amazing, professional, and how B1A4 has grown. I can’t wait to see more form them in the future!!!! FIGHTING B1A4!!! This is all I have for today please check out my last review which was  You Don't Know Love by K.Will Review  .

Music Video:

YouTube Podcast:

Please check out our blog:monohorns.blogspot.com/
Please like us on facebook:www.facebook.com/Monohorns
Check out our Google+: monohorns

Follow us on twitter:twitter.com/monohorns96

Becoming a Girl Day Another

Sagara is short and girly-faced, but
strong and kickbutt

Konbanwa~

Remember Kanojo ni Naru Hi? The manga about a boy emerging and becoming a girl?

If you don’t, you can check out that review here:

http://monohorns.blogspot.com/2013/10/becoming-girl-day.html

Anyway, the author has made another series called Kanojo ni Naru Another. It takes place in the same universe as the original series. It’s ongoing, currently with one chapter released in Japan and scanlated in English. Warning, there may be one or two spoilers in this.

For those readers who aren’t familiar with it, basically in this science fictional alternative universe there’s something known as “emergence”. In an ecosystem you need a balance between boys and girls, if there are too many boys, some of males in the population will become females in order to balance things out. If it does occur, it typically occurs when the boys are young, or at least before they reach the height of puberty.

This occurs to this stories hero Sagara, who is short and has a girly face. Because of constant teasing, it’s become a serious complex, resulting in a surly and pugnacious Sagara. He’s currently in his third year of middle school and is can easily beat up anyone who attempts to tease him. He’s a loner and has a reputation as a delinquent in his class, the only one who really talks to him is Kurosawa, the girl he likes, and Narumi, his rival for Kurosawa’s affection. Suddenly Sagara, who had been feeling oddly weak that day, faints. Several weeks later, he emerges from his cocoon as a girl. 

The hero Sagara becomes our heroine

Now in the original series, Mamiya emerged and quickly accepted his new life as a girl. I think Sagara has a more realistic reaction: though her body is biologically female, emotionally she feels like a boy, which is natural for someone who had been living as a boy for the past 14 years. He persuades the school to continue treating him as a boy and returns to school, determined to live as a boy.

Unfortunately, Narumi soon discovers her secret. But despite having always disliked him, he does his best to help her. She doesn’t understand why; Narumi claims that since she’s a loner she might not understand, but it’s only natural for people to help others in need. Rather noble, and I’m sure its going to win Sagara’s heart later…..

Just my hypothesis, considering the romance in the original series, but there’s one aspect to this story that the other didn’t have: Kurosawa. Kurosawa confesses to Sagara and reveals that its fine that’s she’s a girl now, because she’s prefers girls; after all, even though she emerged several years ago and dresses like a girl, her desires are still that of a male.

Weirdest love triangle ever: who do you think will win Sagara’s heart? Fellow ex-boy Kurosawa or former lover rival Narumi?

I personally think its Narumi, but I think it be interesting if it was Kurosawa.  

I can’t wait for the next release, I’m much more interested in this story than the original. I thought Mamiya’s quick acceptances of the situation was unnatural and their love very circumstantial and only began because of

physical attraction.

Evidence of future romance

Really I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the romance, but I like the main character Sagara much more. Psychologically speaking, he’s reaction is more realistic and sympathetic. Imagine, liking someone and finding out they like you, then suddenly you’re the opposite gender. Some might argue that if they’re feelings are true, gender shouldn’t matter, but really to most people it does. Also, I generally like his personality more, as girl and boy, he’s pugnacious, cutely awkward, slightly tsundere, and I simply like him.

Anyway, I thought I’d get bored with Kurosawa, having been so plain. But after her confession, she’s much more intriguing.

So I recommend checking this out and waiting for the next chapter with me. As soon as it’s released and I’ll post about it. Let’s see if this story continues to hold my attention, or utterly disappoint me. Bye-bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

Kagerou Days Update

Takane meets the snake with "Eye
Opening" power

Konnichiwa~

I haven’t posted in forever! I mean, it’s already 2014!!! I literally haven’t posted since last year.

For my first post of the year, I’m going to a Kagerou Day’s update. Since I stopped posting, chapters 17-19 came out and they were amazing! I freaked out reading each and ever chapter!

Let’s start with chapter 17

The Ene’s mysterious past is completely revealed, and now its certain that she and Haruka have been experimented on. Kenijrou-sensei has betrayed both of them, he’s been planning on using them for experimentation for the past year, possibly longer since he states that preparation took a year, he never mentioned how long he spent planning it.

From my understanding, their experiment on Takane seems to have failed and she’s lost her body because of it. That’s just my theory, I could be wrong. Nonethelesss, the experiment on Haruka was a complete success and they now have a “key” and can open the next Heat Haze. What does this mean exactly? I’ll go over it in chapter 18.

Ene is born

Anyway, in this chapter we see Ene enter the Heat Haze, for the first time we see a character’s experience when obtaining their eye ability, and it was amazing. Entering the Heat Haze had always been a rather obscure idea. I loved the art for this scene, it was intense and beautiful, made even better by the simple line “Open your eyes”. You have the power, its there in front of you, you just have to open your eyes and accept it. Plus there's the fact that her snake is possessed by the "Eye Opening" power, referring to Takane's desire

for knowledge, to escape the shadow. Anyway, after accepting her new power, Takane recreated herself as Ene, and she began her virtual journey for knowledge, for a home. I love how after she opens her eyes, she says her eye burns. Knowledge is often symbolized as light, but when you've been in the ignorance of darkness, the light can burn. Beautifully written Jin! A great allusion to the Allegory of the Cave

Her flashback ends at the end of the chapter and we see the Mekakushi Dan heading to the base after their fun day at the amusement park. She doesn’t have all the answers, but she’s rather content.

Then we see Kuroha.

                                                                                                                                   

Now chapter 18 (oh my god, even thinking about it makes me freak out)

Kuroha is one the most frightening
 characters I've ever met.

Kuroha’s sudden appearance at the end of chapter 17 gave me a heart attack. I’ve only seen him in Outer Kano as “the ‘Deceiver’ from that time”, and tells him he’s gotten better at using it, ‘it’ being his eye ability of course. I might write too much about Kano, but my heart broke when he pointed the gun at him and said “Those wounds you hate so much are going to increase again” because I really think it’s a reference to the bruises Kano’s mother’s abuse created when he was a child, the bruises he desperately wanted to hide. The next scene: Kido screaming and rushing to his side, Seto charging bravely towards Kuroha, Momo blocking Mary, and Shintarou protecting Momo. The Mekukashi Dan takes care of each other, they are a family, even if Momo and Shintarou have only been there for a day, they share a bond. But, like Outer Science, their defenses are futile; he kills Seto, Kido, and metaphorically kills Ene. I know she wasn’t really dying, since the phone isn’t her body, but her crying as he crushed the phone was tragic.

Science (plus a few brief appearances in the other MVs), and all he did was murder my precious Mekukashi Dan members and mentally torture poor Mary. Anyway, he refers to

Before he can continue killing, Mary resets time.

What does this mean?

Well going back to Konoha being the key, I’ve come to a new understanding of Mary’s special powers. Mary has the ability to combine the snakes, which I believe will be key to the resolution of this series, but from my understanding of “Mary’s Fictional World”, the song and the bonus chapter, Mary has the ability to reset everything. Konoha is the key to the current timeline, but once he arrives he’ll become Kuroha and kill the Mekakushi Dan, forcing Mary to reset everything once again. This leads to alternative timelines and time loops that trap others.

Outer Science supports this with the scene of Kuroha suddenly appearing on the roadside, pushing Hibiya in front the truck.
I think it’s very likely that Seto and Kano are aware of the other timelines; Kano since he seems to be on top of everything and Seto probably has an idea of it because he’s so close to Mary and very aware of her.

I feel like Mary isn’t fully aware of what’s going on, I feel she resets time like an instinct to seeing her friends hurt.

Anyway, back to the chapter, we see time is reset, entering Shintarou’s nightmare full of regrets about Ayano’s death, very similar to the dark Shintarou in Lost Time Memory. Then he wakes up and we see chapter 1 again. It deviates from it though when Momo enters the room.

An alternate time line from my understanding.

Indifferent Hibaya
and fangirling Hiyori
appear.

Chapter 19

Hibaya and Hiyori enter the story and we see the 5 of them enjoy a shopping trip, well mainly Hiyori and Momo who quickly become friends. We get to see Hibaya be adorably shy about his feelings for Hiyori too~

A pretty pleasant chapter until the ending, when we see Hiyori asking for help as a truck comes towards her.

We’ll have to wait for the next chapter to see where this continues. I wonder if we’ll continue in this timeline or if we’ll move to a completely different one. It’s hard to say where this story will go. After all, for 18 chapters we thought we were in the main timeline, and then Kuroha appeared.

Which I have to say is genius. Jin made us comfortable, stable. Then suddenly Kuroha appears and everything shatters, it’s exactly how Mary feels; happy and content, surrounded by her precious friends, then she’s watching Kano, Seto, and Kido be murdered.

Genius, Jin knows the art of story telling.

Speaking of Jin, he’s a little liar!

Moving onto a completely different note, after Outer Science came out, he said he wouldn’t be making anymore videos, then Summertime Record (which I’ll review in a different post soon) came out. He announced once again there would be no more videos, stating a Shounen Brave MV would have too many spoilers and that they needed to focus on the anime (Mekaku City Actors), and I was heartbroken because I love the song Shounen Brave, its so sad and cute, its fits Seto perfectly.

But then on December 9^th, he announced it would be included in Mekakcuity V’s. On Christmas Day, a screening of the PV took place in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.

And now, we have a Shounen Brave MV!!!!

I was happy when I saw it, I was freaking out and texting Ms. Lee Min Ho.

I love how older Seto was watching his younger self, remembering his painful past and how he met Mary.

Anyway, here is the PV, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. That’s all for now, bye-bye

 ~Nadeshiko-chan