Of Genshiken and lifearts and me

Its 4am here and I just finished reading Genshiken. Granted its not the kind of manga I usually read but reading about the many antics of the "Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture" or easier known as Genshiken, has reminded me of my days in the Lifearts club.

Yes, I do drop by the clubhouse these days, but I refer to the times when I was there. How I joined the club. How I dragged Rahayu along. How I met Hong Chen, Richard, Bryan, Huijie, Maurice, Jojo, Simon, Grace, Shaun, Kelvin, Pearl, Xiao Hui and Jarvis, Jeff, Cheryl, Pei Boon and so many others as I practically lived in the clubhouse in my days at SP.

Reading Genshiken is like a guilty pleasure for me as I'm not as an acclaimed otaku as the rest of my friends are. I'm more into manga. But as I read the comic, the number of references which I understood made me feel ashamed and proud at myself. And thus I continued to the next chapter and onto the next and onto the next.

What I liked most about this is the many varieties of people inside the club. There's the plain but hardworking president-protag (Sasahara), the ultimate Yaoi fangirl (Oribe), the-I'm-just-hanging-around (Kasukabe). Then there's also the very enthusiastic but veryveryvery weird member (Kuchiki) which I think is a staple in every club. *laughs*

Those mentioned above are so very similar to the many personages that walked through the doors of the clubhouse. We all had our own interests in joining the club. But one thing for sure, none of us came out unchanged.

And we all became a family. I miss you guys. ^_^

I suck at design...

Title: Catch the Manga Wave! (darn that was cheesy)
Type: Original Art
A/n: I spent too long on this so I don't really care much anymore. The artwork is not one of the best But I still like it. The left hand killed me. Then I forgot the arm. Honestly, how would a person draw it out? Or.. make the sleeve shorter (which I inked in by mistake actually) and give more flesh? Feet.. Wrong angle for the manga pen which is by itself... too bent.. >_<
Links: Original art The poster for this

Chuang Yi Manga Bazaar!!!!

I'm so excited for this!!! Yes!!! Its the Chuang Yi Manga Bazaar!!! Me and my need for new books in my not-really-vast collection. Okay okay... I have close to 200 manga by CY, TL, malaysian publisher, VIZ, TokyoPop etc lying around, but I want more! XD After all! I did get my Tenchi Muyo collection from them at $1 each last year! Whooyeah! That was a total bargain!

Here's the poster!

Manga, Sunday morning and Hotdogs!

I couldn't sleep last night. Well I did have my sleep. For about the 2 hours I was downstairs, I slept during the extra time of the game between Chelsea and Man U. Yes, the game was that boring with both side playing the cautious game of "Oh, throw far then might get to the other team! So kick close..." Bleargh...

Anyway, after waking up, I was (not) surprisingly awake. (Cmon! After having slept about 15 hours the DAY before). So then I spent my time reading the manga I rented from the Mage shop. The selection was as diverse as you get singlish language. I got Legal Drug vol 3, Kitchen Princess vol 2, Esperanca vol 1, Finders series vol 1 and 2, Boku no Koe vol 1 and Hot Gimmick vol 1. AND finally a novel. Okay okay so I was bored. Then again I managed to finish all BUT the novel last night and managed to catch like 20 mins of sleep before being woken up for the morning. (The Finders Series is the best of the lot! X3~~~)

And so after a morning meeting with the peeps from T.Arts, we went bowling~!!! Okay so my legs still hurt from the PT on Friday, but I needed to move them. What better way then lots of walking and bowling! My score was not great after not playin for so long but heck, its better than getting the gutter all the time! Huijie came about somewhere in the 2nd game. After that we (that is, Jie and I) went off on our own.

We went around to rekki for the price of the a game Jie wanted. I was kinda stuck with drawing on one of the wacom tablets on display. So fun!!! XDDD I managed to draw something but colouring just escapes me... *cries* I need lots of help and practice... *cries somemore*

Dinner was a GREAT affair! We had a hot dog meal each. I ordered mine a regular Chicago and he ordered a LARGE Texas Ted. Mine was so big I could hardly get it all done. Huijie's was so much bigger but he finished it off just like that! Well, guys DO have larger appetites... >_> Here's some pictures of the day!


Nice shop, nice person. The potato salad was not that good though...


Yummy... Dinner... XD

(Bitch of photobucket loading AFTER I posted...)

Synopsis: Parfum Extrait 0

Its been a long time since the last update! I've been rather slacking after the exams! XD Reading manga, watching anime, drawing stuff! Seems like I've been rather busy instead of lazy! Than again I've gotta start on my costume! ^_^ Now if only my monetary funds can cover me well enough... *cries*

Anyway, right now lemme give you guys a synopsis of one of the manga I've been reading: Parfum Extrait 0 by Kaori Yuki



It is said that by looking into another's eyes you can tell much about a person. So does one's scent. This manga is a one shot complete manga recently translated by Chuang Yi, written and drawn by the artist of Fairy Cube, Kaori Yuki.

This is a manga about an expert perfumer (read: not Perfume peddler), Kanade Saikawa, who is able to remember and distinguish every scent and odour he has smelt before. The fragrances he create goes with the person's personality and style making each of it unique to the person. It is a mask the fragrance it, but it never hides the heart of one who wears it.

The first story is of one of his customer who was rumoured to be harrassed by an unknown man thought to be one of the Yakuza. Body guards for the girl has not deterred the man from the girl. It is then known that the girl is missing from the mansion and that her mother was gone overseas. By chance, he had stumbled onto the scent he created on the streets, but it was tainted with the scent of "Death". By using his nose to follow the unique scent that he created for the girl he found himself at a rundown building filled with the choking scent of roses. It leads to a bigger story than just a missing girl from the streets.

The second story is of Kanade's Past. Approached by a magazine, about a popular internet rumour of the "Perfume of Death", he tries to explain that its impossible for a scent to kill somebody. It was until a person who bought such a bottle of perfume from an online shop died shortly after she opened the bottle he did not believe such a rumour. But with his nose, he caught the slight scent of almonds beneath the fragrance which he identified as his "Felicia no. 8". Was it murder? or accidental suicide? Afterall, the perfume he created was discontinued about 2 years ago. Read the story which follows Kanade's past regarding a love triangle and death.

The third story is of how a fragrance can cover up memories if it causes such a deep impression to a person. Perfumes can also form false memories to mask the harsher reality to the person in concern. Be mesmerised as Kanade does his magic using his Fragrance Organ to uncover the truths beneath the false.

Overall, the manga is a nice short volume with beautiful detailed artwork that is characteristic of Kaori Yuki. Good for those who are looking for a short yet meaningful read into the world of perfumers and those affected by them.

Rating: 7.0/10

Rather, now i'd like to apologize for my broken English! Seems to be a long time since I've actually read something that is not a graphic novel... Help me...