SPECIAL OTAKU FRIDAY

Today marks the fifth week of Otaku Friday's return and with it we bring you a special post about video games that have been turned into either a manga or an anime and also will announce a new segment to all you Otaku's.

Video Games Countdown

Japan has a wide variety of games ranging from action to Role play to Visual Novels. Many of these games due to high popularity and advertising attempts are turned into animes and mangas. We start our countdown to a romance visual novel by the name of La Corda D'Oro

5. La Corda D'oro
La Corda d'Oro is a visual novel produced and developed by Koei due to its high popularity the character designer Yuki Kure adapted the game into a seventeen volume manga in 2004-2011. In 2006 the manga was adapted into a 26 episode anime by the name of La Corda d'Oro: Primo Passo and a 2 episode special named La Corda d'Oro: Secondo Passo in 2009. The game franchise has then had many other game releases with different characters and story.

Manga/Anime Plot:
Kahoko Hino is a student in the General Education section of Seiso Academy. One day she runs into Lili, a musical fairy, who grants her a magical violin and a place in the school's annual musical competition. Kahoko refuses, only to be pressed on by Lili until she accepts the instrument and place in the competition. As she practices, Kahoko is amazed that she can play any musical piece as long as she knows the tune and plays it with her heart. As the competition goes on, she becomes more and more attached to the people she is trying to compete with.
*La corda d'oro is your average shojo manga. Since this is based on a visual novel the main character has a problem identifying who she really loves. As the story progresses you start to love the characters and grow with the series as well. No real ultimate romance happens, but more of a growth in friendship.

4.Diabolik Lovers

Diabolik Lovers is a visual novel developed by Rejet and published by idea factory, realeased in 2012 and remastered for play on psvita 2013. Diabolik lovers has been adapted into a 14 episode anime and a second season in the works.

Plot: The heroine, Komori Yui, was a normal teenage girl until in her second year of high school; her father, a priest, has to go overseas for work. As a result, Yui is forced to move to a new town and arrives alone at a mansion she was told will be her new home. As she approaches the front door it begins to rain. Because no one answers her knock, she reaches for the knob, but the door swings open of its own accord. Yui enters the mansion to find no one in sight. As she starts to explore her immediate surroundings, she finds a young man (Ayato) asleep on a couch. He wakes up as she approaches him and promptly pins her down. As she begins to panic, five other young men gradually appear. Yui notices something different about all of them. She discovers that all six of them are brothers but by three different mothers, and they all turn out to be vampires.
*Okay, Sadistic vampires this anime is dark and a bit perverted! I'm not going to say I didn't love it because I loved every bit but there is some freakish stuff going on. I really enjoyed the dark feel to the story and would re-watch at anytime. If your into crazy vampires with weird fetishes this is for you.


3.Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Persona 4 is a role playing game in the Shin Megami Tensei series developed and released by Atlus in 2008. Persona 4 has then been adapted in a two season anime and film.

Plot: The story follows Yu Narukami, a quiet teenager who moves to Inaba to live with his uncle and cousin for a year due to his parents working abroad. After looking into a rumor about a mysterious 'Midnight Channel' that appears on televisions during rainy days, Yu and his new friends, Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka, discover a strange world hidden inside the television, inhabited by strange monsters known as Shadows and a curious bear-like creature named Teddie. It is here that Yu awakens a mysterious power known as 'Persona', which allows him to fight against the Shadows. Yu and his friends soon discover that this TV World is related to a mysterious string of murders, in which dead bodies appear during foggy days. With the Midnight Channel warning them of potential victims, Yu and his friends, along with Teddie, form an investigation team dedicated to rescuing people who are thrown into the TV before they fall prey to the Shadows and finding the culprit behind the incidents. As the story progresses, the team rescue various people who become their new allies after overcoming their own Shadows and gaining Personas of their own, including Chie's best friend, Yukiko Amagi, delinquent Kanji Tatsumi, idol Rise Kujikawa, and young detective Naoto Shirogane. Together, Yu and his companions face up against the threat of the Shadows whilst also making the best of their youthful school life. Persona 4: The Golden Animation expands on the series with additional scenarios adapted from Golden version of the game, in which Yu encounters Marie, a girl from the mysterious Velvet Room who is seeking to regain her memory.
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*I Myself have not had a chance to watch this anime but am a big fan of the persona series. The reason i marked this as 3rd is that I myself enjoy the game and think that the animation as probably just as good if not better then the game itself. Also check out Persona 3 which has been adapted into films!

2. Amnesia

Amnesia is a Japanese visual novel series by Idea Factory. It was released in 2011 for PlayStation Portable. Since this series is well received in Japan, it produced various related merchandise such as drama CDs, character music CDs and books. In 2013 a anime television series has been produced by Brain's Base. 

Plot: This story takes place in a fictional town, in a fictional country, in a fictional world. One morning, a young lady awakens to find that she has lost all her memories prior to that morning. Her life, her relationships, her very name all gone. All that's left is a cell phone with numbers and names she doesn't recognize and Orion, a young boy that only she appears to be able to see. With Orion's guidance, she struggles to make sense of herself, a boyfriend she doesn't know and the thousand and one little things that make up a daily life. But with no memories left, the only alternative is to forge new ones, even if that means leaving old loves behind.

*I Cannot tell you how much I love this anime. This anime is so confusing and perplexed that you feel as lost as the protagonist the whole time until the end when you start to connect the pieces and see for yourself the beautiful story. This anime is so beautiful and has such a great story that I recommend it to all of you.

1. Danganronpa

Danganronpa is a Japanese video game franchise created and developed by Spike Chunsoft for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. The series currently consists of three main titles; two visual novel games, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and a third-person adventure spin-off,Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, along with multiple smartphone titles, as well as various manga, novel, and anime adaptations. 

Plot: The series revolves around the elite high school, Hope's Peak Academy, which, every year, selects several "Ultimate" students  talented high school students who are in the top of their field, along with one average "Ultimate Lucky Student" who is chosen by lottery. In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Makoto Naegi, an average student selected to join Hope's Peak Academy, arrives at the school only to lose consciousness and later find himself trapped inside the school, along with fourteen other students. There, a sadistic remote-controlled teddy bear by the name of Monokuma announces that the students will be forced to live in the school forever, offering only one way to graduate: murder another student and get away with it. When a crime scene is discovered, a "class trial" is held, in which the remaining students must discuss amongst themselves who the murderer is. If they can successfully figure out who murdered the victim, the culprit alone will be executed. However, if they guess incorrectly, the culprit will be able to leave the school and everyone else will be executed.

*I fell in love with Danganronpa the story was so well-done and the animation was beautiful, I still haven't been able to read the manga due to it unbelievably hard to get statues, but I really love the whole murder mysterious and class trials this anime gets you so interested that you just have to keep watching till the end. I am really hoping for a season 2 because the anime is left with a gigantic cliff hanger that keeps you wanting more. This is on the must watch list and highly recommended!

Doubt

Author: Yoshike Tonagi
English Publisher: Yen Press
Volumes: 2 Omnibus Edition

Buy Me: Amazon, BN, RightStuf

Art: 3.5/5
Story: 7/10
Overall Score: 8/10

Hello, welcome to this weeks Otaku Friday! On today's Otaku Friday we will review a unpopular but great manga called "Doubt". Doubt is a 4 volume Mystery/horror manga written and illustrated By. Yoshiki Tonogai. If your into the less graphic horror genre this is for you keep reading to find out more!

So, What's It about?

     Doubt revolves around a fictional cell phone game called "Rabbit Doubt", in which the players are rabbits in a colony; one of the players is randomly chosen to act as a wolf infiltrating the group. Each round, the rabbits guess which is the wolf as the rabbits are eaten one-by-one until only the wolf is left.
In the story, four players of the "Rabbit Doubt" game Yū Aikawa, Eiji Hoshi, Haruka Akechi, Rei Hazama and a non-player Mitsuki Hōyama meet to relax together. They are knocked unconscious and awaken in an abandoned psychiatric hospital to meet Hajime Komaba and discover Rei hanged. The group find Rei's cell phone and realize that they're playing a real-life game of "Rabbit Doubt". To survive, the wolf, described as the liar, must die.
     * I found this story to be a little similar to "SAW" which if you haven't watched is an American horror film where a group of people are put into a room and together they have to figure out how to escape. This manga isn't exactly the same as saw, but does have many similarities. The twist and turns in this series had me guessing who the rabbit was and kept me doubting every character.  If your a horror fan then is a great pick up, and since it is a short story its a quick and good read.

Review me!

     Although I did enjoy reading this I found the story a little over played and not anything very original. The characters, being a short story didn't have any character growth and you also got your average manga characters, the thug, the innocent sweet girl, The "hot" girl, etc. I'm probably being a little harsh and making it seem unappealing, but it does keep you interested. What really saves this series is the twist and turns, Soon you even start to doubt the protagonist, and that is what makes this story a gem among rocks. The art was light and didn't have anything very gruesome which is great for some readers, but not the greatest thing for others. Yoshinki put a great train of thought into the overall story which you will see if you pick this little gem up.

Gimme Them Links 
Doubt Manga Read Online

Waiting on Wednesday #11

The Creeping

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at BreakingtheSpine in which we spotlight a new release we can't wait to get our hands on. 


Title: The Creeping

Author: Alexandra Sirowy

Expected Release Date: August 18, 2015

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Link: The Creeping

Pre Order Links: amazon, B&N



Synopsis: 

Twelve years ago Stella and Jeanie vanished while picking strawberries. Stella returned minutes later, with no memory of what happened. Jeanie was never seen or heard from again.

Now Stella is seventeen, and she's over it. She's the lucky one who survived, and sure, the case is still cloaked in mystery—and it's her small town's ugly legacy—but Stella is focused on the coming summer. She's got a great best friend, a hookup with an irresistibly crooked smile, and two months of beach days stretching out before her.

Then along comes a corpse, a little girl who washes up in an ancient cemetery after a mudslide, and who has red hair just like Jeanie did. Suddenly memories of that haunting day begin to return, and when Stella discovers that other red-headed girls have gone missing as well, she begins to suspect that something sinister is at work.

And before the summer ends, Stella will learn the hard way that if you hunt for monsters, you will find them. 

Why I Want it!

This book sounds like a good mystery book and a perfect halloween read, since it comes out in Agustus. I haven't read a mystery in a while so why not added to my TBR! Also the cover is pretty creepy. And I would love to know why she got to comeback and not her friend. What new book release are waitung for?

<3 SandraTheBookWorm 

Waiting on Wednesday#10

Shutter

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at BreakingtheSpine in which we spotlight a new release we can't wait to get our hands on. 

Title: Shutter

Author: Courtney Alameda

Expected Release Date: February 3, 2015

Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends

Goodreads Link: Shutter

Preorder Links:  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Synopsis:

Horror has a new name: introducing Courtney Alameda.

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat—a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before . . . or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a week.

My Thoughts: 

First I can't wait to get my hands on this book because I love anything horror, secondly as I was reading the Synopsis I saw that Micheline is a descendent of Van Helsing, and who doesn't love Van Helsing. This book sounds beyond creepy and exciting, I can't wait to get my hands on it! What book are you looking forward to see on the shelves?  Leave a comment below I would love to hear from you!

-SandraTheBookWorm                                           

Gone Girl

TITLE: GONE GIRL
AUTHOR: GILLIAN FLYNN
PAGE COUNT: 560 
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2012
RATING: ★★★★★


WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT:

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?


MY THOUGHTS ON THIS BOOK:

I just finished reading Gone Girl a couple of days ago, and i LOVED IT! Gillian Flynn is an amazing writer; I can't believe I haven't read any of her books before. Her writing made me feel like I was living inside the book and not many writers are capable of that. When Nicks trophy wife goes missing all the evidence leads the police and community to believe he has killed his wife. Nick swears up and down he didn't do it. I really can’t go into too much detail about this book without spoilers so I'll stop there. One thing I will tell you is that at one point I hated all the characters in this book also the twist in this book are crazy. Overall the book is amazing! Perfect fall read or to be honest any time read! I can't wait to get my hands on more of Gillian's books

My So-Called Death

Title: My-So Called Death
Author: Stacey Jay
Page Count: 214
Publish Date: 10/7/2014
Rating: ★★★★★



WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT:
Just because you don't have a pulse doesn't mean you can't be perky.One second, freshman Karen Vera's on top of the most fabulous cheer pyramid ever. The next, she's lying on the pavement with seriously unflattering cranial damage. Freakishly alive without a pulse, Karen learns that she's a genetically undead zombie.

Suddenly, Karen's non-life is an epic disaster. She's forced to attend a boarding school for the "death-challenged," her roommate is a hateful wannabe-Goth weirdo, and she's chowing down on animal brains every day to prevent rot (um, ew?). Even worse, someone is attacking students and harvesting their brains for a forbidden dark ritual. And it might be the hottest guy at DEAD High, the one who makes Karen's non-beating heart flutter!

Armed with a perky smile and killer fashion sense, it's up to Karen to track down the brain snatcher and save her fellow students from certain zombie death.


MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:


I got the arc of this lovely book from Stacey Jay it's being relaunched on October 7th.
When Karen Vera was in a cheerleader freak accident. the last thing she expects is to end up in a school for the death challenged aka zombies. To make matters worse someone has been killing zombies in her new school, and Karen has taken it upon herself to find the murderer. This book was soooooo good, I loved it! Stacey is brilliant! just when I thought I had discovered who the murderer was Stacey changed it up on me. I loved that I couldn't predict who it was just made the mystery so much better. This book is a combination of mystery and comedy sprinkled with just the right touch of romance. If you're in the mood of a fun light read, that will keep you guessing, I recommend you pick up this awesome book! 

UNHINGED

TITLE: UNHINGED
AUTHOR: A.G. HOWARD
PAGE COUNT: 387
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2014
RATING: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS


WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT:

Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head


MY TOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:

This sequel to Splintered was perfect! There is so much more Morpheus which I love Team Morpheus lol. In this book Wonderland starts slipping into Alyssa's real world where she thought her family, Jeb, and her where safe. Morpheus  tries to convince Alyssa to accept that she is as much part of wonderland as she is to the human realm and this makes Alyssa a little mad. I don't want to give to much away so I'm going to stop there.  This book doesn't have as much hype it deserves it's AMAZING A.G. Howard is a brilliant writer the way she describes wonderland you just want to be a part of it and the character development is perfect. If you have not started this series you must you wont regret it. Oh and the ending the ending in this book will leave you wanting more.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why

Author: Jay Asher

Page Count: 304

Publish Year: 2007

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.
Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

MY TOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:
I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it, this book really pissed me of at some point. I mean I did like that Hannah got to tell the people that bullied how they had a part in her decision, but it also pissed me of that she went that route. In my opinion no one has control over your life except you and she let the bullies win. I guess in a way this book teaches teenagers how to recognize signs of someone headed that route. I really don't know what else to say about this book . I know a lot of people really like this book but it just didn't do it for me. 

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3)

Title: City of Glass

Author: Cassandra Clare 

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

Clary finally knows where she can get the cure for her moms magic induced comma. She has to travel to the City of Glass Alicante, but Jace has a different plan he thinks Clary going to Alicante is a bad idea, that the clave will only want to use her for her newly found power. Clary goes into Alicante illegally which might mean death for her, to make matters worse she finds out Jace doesn't want her there and Simon has been thrown into jail and the new inquisitor is very suspicious of a vampire that can withstand the sun. Clary finds and ally in Sebastian a very mysterious Shadowhunter that she seems to have a very strange connection to. The downworlders come to the conclusion that the only way to defeat Valentine and get the mortal instruments back is for the Shadowhunters to fight along side of them. Shadowhunters have always fought their battles alone can they swallow their pride and fight with their mortal enemies to defeat Valentine. 

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE BOOK:

This book was sooooo good! Like I have said before this series just seems to get better and better. I loved the way Cassandra takes you deeper into what Valentine did to Jace and why Clarys mother kept her out of the Shadowhunter world for so long. Also many secrets and truths are revealed in this book, it just made me want to keep reading and made me so happy for the characters that I have grown to love! Also there is so much action in this book you can't go one chapter without some sort of battle going on lol. In overall this book is amazing if you have not picked up this series I highly recommend you do! :)