Gaba Kawa by Rie Takada

Title: Gaba Kawa
Mangaka: Rie Takada
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: Approx. 200
# of Volumes: 1
My Rating: 1/5

Rara is a female demon who arrives on Earth in order to cast human souls into darkness. She is most eager to meet her demon idol, Hiroshi Akusawa.

When she starts her new high school as student, she encounters the hottie Aku. She mistakes him as the demon and to find out later that he is a regular human! She immediately falls in love with the mysterious boy with powers of his own. But, can a demon and a human ever be together?

If I could torch books, this would be on my torching pile. It is most unfortunate that my rating does not go any lower than 1/5. I am so glad this is a single volume manga and I did not waste my money on it. It was hard enough for me to get through it. I can't bear to even write this review. But I will force myself so you manga fans out there know where NOT to invest.

In the past I have read Rie Takada's mangas before. The only one I did not mind and actually liked was Punch!!, which was the first series I read by her. But after I spent $15 for a bunch of used volumes for her older series, Wild Act, at a flea market, I was utmost disappointed. It belongs on the torching pile too. But that is for another time.

Takada's female protagonists are always petite and somewhat stupid. Regularly, that is fine because there should be a variety of characters out there. But she overuses this in every series she created. Rara is a shame to female manga characters. The first time she meets Aku, she immediately "falls in love"... WTF? Not only that, but she continuously pursues after this attractive guy... secretly like a stalker. She believes he is the one, when there is no real chemistry involved. She risks her life for someone she barely knows, thinking that she actually does. And some reason, Aku is in love with her too. This is a load of bull because they never spent an ounce of real quality time together and Aku yet proclaims, he "loves" her. There is no plot except for stupid love, which in reality is obsession with good looks. I'm sure that if Aku was not attractive, Rara would not have liked him at first sight. And the ending makes no sense! I was ready to run down both of the characters with a bulldozer for their single-digit IQs.

The only thing this manga has going for it is the art. And that's only the pretty boys. The female looks just as annoying as she is.

Now if you excuse me, I shall throw this thing into a shredder. (And I apologize to any fans, I can not stand this manga at all. The first manga review I have done since over a month is disappointingly have to be on such a sad story. I apologize to my manga readers out there. I will have a couple of new manga reviews up soon).

Harry Potter Giveaway + David Inside Out Winners!

I did promise a new giveaway right? Now ain't I so nice?? Haha, read below for details!

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Description: It all comes down to this - a final faceoff between good and evil. You plan to pull out all the stops, but every time you solve one mystery, three more evolve. Do you stay the course you started, despite your lack of progress? Do you detour and follow a new lead that may not help? Do you listen to your instincts, or your friends? Lord Voldemort is preparing for battle and so must Harry. With Ron and Hermione at his side, he's trying to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes, escape danger at every turn, and find a way to defeat evil once and for all. How does it all end? Find out in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince coming out this summer, why not just fast-forward to find out what happens in the end already? Well, I have a treat for you! I'm giving away 5 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Not only that but each winner gets a cute 10 years anniversary pin like I did here!

How to get your entries:

1+ = comment in this post here answering, "Which is your favourite Harry Potter book or movie?" (Mandatory or you get no entries! And I'm sure everyone at least saw one movie or read one book!)
2+ = if you are already a follower either through blog roll, Google Reader, or both
1+ = if you just became a follower either through blog roll, Google Reader, or both
1+ = post this contest on your blog or whatnot (sidebar is fine and they more places you post this at, the more entries you get!)

Please stick to the format above when you comment.

Contest ends on July 22th, 2009! And I apologize, US mailing addresses only! No P.O. Boxes!

And visit this site for more Harry Potter fun!: http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/hallows/.

~~~

For the David Inside Out giveaway, I have exactly 100 entries! Yay! And I hope Harry Potter will surpass this number!

As you are all waiting for, the two winners are:

Fantastic Book Review
Lauren

Congrats! Please contact me with your shipping address as soon as possible!

Watching on Wednesday: Live Free or Die Hard

Title: Live Free or Die Hard
Type: Movie
Age Group: Teens +
Release Year: 2007
My Rating: 4/5

Many computer hackers across America are being targeted and killed. The new war age is coming.

Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) is a hacker, who nearly died if it wasn't for detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) who came to his place for an investigation. Running away from their pursuers, they learn that someone out there is infiltrating all the systems within America. They are messing up with the lights on the streets and turning off all electricities; they are causing a havoc among the American citizens.

Why are they targeting Farrell and what is their intention? Can Farrell and McClane fix everything before it is too late?

Live Free or Die Hard is very face-past movie with non-stop pure action. I enjoyed watching it because it kept going with little boring parts. I was reminded of a YA computer fiction I reviewed, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. It was very interesting to see that if you knew the cyber world inside out, you could pretty much do anything because modern society is connected through a huge network force.

Long did his role very well as a jittery computer geek. Willis, well, he is his brusque and gun-wielding character. If you were to ever be in a zombie Apocalypse, you would want him to be your friend.

This is a movie for the guys and those who are interested in world domination with computers.