Tag Archives: manga

Rayna Recommends: Manga Favorites

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Hey everyone! I know I haven’t done a recommendation post in quite a while, but I wanted to start the new year off with one of my favorite kinds of books: manga!

I started reading manga back in sixth grade when my best friend introduced me to it. I was hooked for a long time, but I stopped really reading them in college because my interests were changing – but I still enjoy reading a good manga series!

So I thought today I’d recommend some of my personal favorites. They spread over a few genres, but the bigger theme is that they all have some form of romance in them or another.

So here is my list of recommended manga:

1 . Fushigi Yuugi by Yuu Watase

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This is my most favorite series of all time. It’s about a girl who gets pulled into the world of a book and how she has to live in that book until the end, pretty much. There’s romance, action, adventure, SO MANY FEELS, and so much more. I love Yuu Watase’s art style so, so much, and really, anything by her is amazing.

2. Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres Celestial Legend) by Yuu Watase

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This is a more mature series by her, but it’s still a beautiful tale about twins who come to find out a secret about their family and how each of them have their own fates to play out once the secret’s out. It’s got romance, action, fantastical elements, magic, and more.

3. Chobits by CLAMP

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This series by CLAMP is one about a boy who goes off to college and finds a persacom (robot) left out in the garbage outside his apartment. When he brings her back in and activates her, he discovers that there’s a lot more to persacoms than he originally thought – and just how valuable his is. I love, love, love this manga series not only for the art style, but the story as well. Each character is one you get attached to and it’s just a fun, and sometimes intense, story to follow.

4. Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

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This twelve volume series is a long one, but it’s about a girl who stumbles upon some classmates and comes to find out that they change into animals when they’re hugged by someone of the opposite sex. It’s a story about the zodiac and it’s a really good series. The art style took a while for me to get used to, but I otherwise adore the story and characters and I suggest giving it a go.

5. Tokyo Mew Mew by Reiko Yoshida & Mia Ikumi

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The manga series that started it all, of course this series has a special place in my heart. It’s about magical girls who partly turn into animals and have to defeat some evil foes. I really adore the art style and the story, but I have to keep reminding myself how young these characters are. But still, it’s a fun story!

6. Ao Hare Ride by Io Sakisaka

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I. Love. This. Manga. It’s seriously an amazing story about two high school students just going about their days, and one day they fall in love. It’s sweet and funny, and sometimes serious, and I just love it to pieces. Like, I can’t even. Go read it.

7. Kaichou-wa Maid-sama by Hiro Fujiwara

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This series is about a girl who is very standoffish but is then forced to take care of one of her classmates. There’s a lot of silliness that ensues, but it’s also a love story. This one made me laugh a lot and I think it’s just one of those series that’s a great pick-me-up.

Honestly, I can’t recommend these few series enough. They are some of my absolute favorites ever and I think that if you like to laugh, you’ll enjoy any and all of them. There are serious moments involved in each of them, as well as romance and action. Check them out sometime!

Have you read any of these series? What manga do you recommend to me? Let me know!

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I’m Thankful For

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Welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday as hosted by gingerreadslainey from YouTube. Today’s topic is about the books we’re thankful for, and since I talked about my top ten non-bookish things I’m thankful for yesterday, I figured I’d participate in this week’s T5W.

So here are my top five favorite books that I’m thankful to have in my life:

5. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

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I had to choose a book for summer reading one year, and I actually had to read the book this time because it was my last year for summer reading and I wanted to actually make an effort, and so when I found this book on the list I was amazed: it was boring, old, or weird like the rest of the summer book selections from years past. This book surprised me in the best possible way: it had romance, it has drama, it had a young woman trapped in someone else’s body trying to live again. It was amazing and wonderful and I think this is the book that got me back into reading when I first entered high school, and for that, I am truly grateful.

4. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

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Though this story was extremely frustrating and saddening, it’s the true story of an unwanted daughter in China and it really just opened my eyes to a world in which I thought everyone could be loved, but really, it’s not that simple. This book showed so much hate and disdain for this girl, and how she had to deal with those things, and though I can’t exactly remember how it ended, I do know that it greatly impacted me, especially since I read it when I was a young teen.

3. Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer

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I was a fan before these books got big, and let me tell you, I am thankful for it. This was the first book series I’ve ever fangirled over, and the one that I bonded with my friends over. Heck, I even got my husband to read them, too, back when we were just starting to date. Oh yeah, I’m amazing. I know this series gets a lot of crap for one reason or another, but during a time when I was just going into high school and trying to figure out life as a teen, this series was right there with me and for that I am grateful.

2. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

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This was one of the first novels I’ve ever reread. It was also one of the first ones that I remember effecting me so much and caused me to want to read more like it, even if I didn’t (I honestly can’t remember). It’s such a strong and powerful morally driven book, and it really explores the question of “what if the world was like this in the future.” It just brought out a passion in me for reading, I think, and I’ll be forever grateful to this book for that reason.

1 . Tokyo Mew Mew by Reiko Yoshida & Mia Ikumi

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I’m so thankful to this series as it was the first manga series I was ever introduced to back in the sixth grade. It was one in which I found my best friend again after years of not seeing each other, and it was just a series in which I could escape reality from and imagine and dream of a world in which I could be a super hero with special animal abilities. Though that sounds kind of weird, it’s true, and I’ll forever hold this series in my heart.

So there you have it, the top five books that I’m grateful for. And I even still own all of these books because of how much I love them and how much of an impact they’v made on me over the years.

What books are you grateful for having in your life? Let me know!

 

Epic Reads Book Tag

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This was a book tag created by Margot, one of the lovely ladies from Epic Reads, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity for this one because the questions are much more dynamic than the typical book tag you find floating around (or at least what I’ve seen).

  1. If you could invite one author and one of their fictional characters to tea, who would you invite and what would you serve them?
    1. I’d invited Sarah J Maas to tea and her character Celeana because two badass ladies at tea is a freakin’ awesome party, right? And I’d probably serve, like… cheese and crackers because I doubt either one would care much. I’d have too many questions and fangirly moments for them to stop and chew things, anyway.
  2. What book do you wish the author would write a prequel for?
    1. Hmm… Well, if we’re basing this off of books I’ve read in the past 12-13 months, I’d say a prequel for either “Divergent” by Veronica Roth or any story from Harry Potter. I’d love to read about Harry’s parents in Hogwarts.
  3. Which two characters (NOT from the same book)  do you think would make a good couple?
    1. I think Cath from “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell and Simon from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare would make a good couple because both of them are nerdy and geeky and could totally talk about a lot of things together. I’m sure Simon would jump on the fangirl bandwagon with Cath, right?
  4. If you ran into your favorite author on the subway and could only say one sentence to them, who is it and what would it be?
    1. If I saw Sarah J Maas on the subway, 1) I think I’d be too nervous to say anything, but 2) if I did it would probably be something like, “I love your books so much!” And a big smile plastered on my face.
  5. What book made you a reader and why?
    1. I can’t really pinpoint this as I’ve always loved to read and collect books (it started at an early age, man), but one book that stands out significantly to me as a child was “Stellaluna” by Janell Cannon. Every time I think back to my childhood I can always picture this book, along with “Verdi,” also by Cannon. I loved the art style and the stories to them. They were just very captivating to me as a little girl.
  6. Incendio! Your bookshelf caught on fire. Show us the one book you would save.
    1. 1) I’d cry. 2) I’d probably go after either one of two books: “Heir of Fire” by Sarah J Maas or “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer. I’d go after Maas’s book because I love that one so much in the series, and I’d go after Meyer’s book because it’s signed and has “To Rayna” written in it. So yeah.
  7. Which dystopian world would you want to live in if you had to choose one? Why?
    1. As I haven’t read many dystopians yet, I’m going to have to go with “Divergent” and the faction system. I already know I’d be placed in Abnegation, so there’s that… And I guess I pick it because it seems like a nice system until, you know, people want to destroy and take over everything.
  8. What is your most epic read of all time?
    1. The “Fushigi Yuugi” manga series by Yuu Watase. This was one of the first manga series I ever read way back when I got into manga and anime in middle school. I love this series so much, it’s my absolute favorite and I’m beyond glad I read it. It’s magical, witty, funny, series, steamy, there’s romance… it’s got so many things I love wrapped up in one. Plus, Watase’s art style is amazing! Love, love, love!
  9. Also, tag some friends now to answer these questions.
    1. It’s not really a question, but there it is! I challenge anyone who reads this to do this tag, either on their own blog or in the comments below! I hope you enjoyed and found this engaging – I did!