Want to read these

Rambles + opinions

19 Days
★★★★☆

19 Days is written and illustrated by Old Xian. I first read this a couple years back in middle school after a screenshot of one of the panels was posted onto Tumblr. I hadn't really read alot of BL stories before because I had never came across any stories that I had found interesting enough to follow through with but this one caught my eye. Each chapter was incredibly short and most of the content was 'slice of life' and revolved around four boys day to day school ife.

The story initially follows two boys who appear to be in highschool/middle school. They are best friends, joined at the hip and are constantly getting into trouble together. The series starts with episodic panels, two-three pages each chapter, that have no real plot. But eventually, after about 50 chapters or so, there is a plot that starts to unfold. I'm not that interested in gang/criminal plots so I wasn't very interested in that part of the story but the art and the dynamic between the characters is what held me hostage to this manhua! The two stories are between Jian Yi who is in love with his childhood best friend Zhan Zheng Xi, the other, He Tian and Mo. I intially was more interested in the relationship between Mo and He Tian simply because their dynamic was a little more entertaining. I thought He Tian annoying the hell out of Mo was funny and cute and their romance blossoming was soooo cute. I did have some issues with how much He Tian would make fun of Mo even though Mo seemed to deserve it at times considering he was introduced as a bully. I'm going to brush it off as the style of comedy that prominent in manhua's but it still was kind of annoying. But it seems like they were a pretty popular couple amongst the fanbase to the point where the story slowly transitioned to have moments between them over the actual main couple. I wasn't really bothered by this at first considering the second lead moved quicker romantically than the main lead, but after Jian and Zhan's feelings reached the surface, I was more interested in finally seeing some progress for the MAIN couple of the series. Unfortunatley, the plot transitioned to focus on the gang situation involving He Tian's older brother and also his relationship with Mo, making the main lead become secondary characters.

I haven't read the story in while but when I do pick it back up again, I hope I get to see Jian Yi and Zheng Xi again!

90's Cram School for Unripe Apples
★★★★★

90's Cram School for Unripe Apples is a webtoon written by the korean comic artist Soonkki.

'Mi-ae is just a normal middle school girl trying t o survive school. She likes reading comics, the pop group “The Fire Boys”, and karaoke. One day, a boy she used to know transfers to her school and begins to stir up trouble. No matter what she does, it seems he just doesn’t appreciate her efforts to get to know him. What’s up with that?'

I haven't read the authors first webtoon "Cheese in the trap" despite it's popularity so I had no idea what to expect from this series but oh my god...I fell in love with this story from the very first chapter. I would give up my firstborn to read this for the first time again. Every aspect of the story feels so real from the characters, environment, their problems etc. Nostalgia is in every corner and although there has been ZERO mentions that this story is going to be sad, there's a phrase at around the beginning that has been stuck in my mind..."He'll be the one that she'll never forget"...that leaves me with a bittersweet feeling everytime I see Cheol and Mi-ae in the same panel. When we're younger, we don't really think about the last time you might be seeing someone. Or the concept that the person who feels like the most important to you right now will become a part of a sentimental memory in the future.

There are romantic elements in the story, but it's as lighthearted as you would expect from middleschoolers. It leans more towards slice of life but that's why I love it so much. The characters are so lovable, I can't hate any of the children, they're each on their journey to understand themselves and their feelings, I hope the author isn't cruel...but it scares me because I heard that the author isn't one for conventianal endings. I just want a somewhat hopeful ending for them regardless if there is a pairing at the end or not. I cannot explain how much I love this story, I find myself rereading it constantly, no other school life genre will ever make me feel the same way this story does! I can't wait for chapters, I will be following this story till the very end!!

Ajin

Akatsuki No Yona

Akagame no Shirayukihime

Akagame no Shirayukihimeis a shoujo fantasy romance series illustrated and written by Sorata Akiduki. I first read this manga around 2015 and have been keeping up with it ever since, but the long chapter releases and the disorientating plot breaks my heart considering it's one of my favourite shoujo manga series ever! I had high hopes for this series but it took an odd turn a couple years ago that split the two romantic leads in seperate directions. I understand why the split occured - for Shirayuki's development but paired along with the long chapter releases plus frequent hiatuses, it slowly became bland.

The story follows a girl, Shirayukihime, who is skilled in pharmaceuticals and her relationship with the prince of Wisteria, Zen. Their interactions are the main reasons I fell in love with this manga! It's so common for shoujo male leads to be oddly aggressive and rude to their female leads at first but this manga was wholesome throughout the story. Although they did move quick emotionally, and very slowly physcially, it's alot more realistic than other shoujo that had been released around the early 2000's. I swooned every time I saw panels of them together and ended up developing the worst media brainrot I had ever dealt with. This maga absolutley consumed me, I was in love with all the characters and had a difficult time hating the flawed characters. (TBA)

Ao Haru Ride

Shingeki No Kyojin

I read this manga a while back and immediately became obsessed with it, spending hours reading the chapters until I hit the last one. I did not have the privelage of starting the manga when it was completed so I had to go through the painstaking process of waiting for the chapters and surfing through twitter and tumblr for leaks. Probably one of my most favourite action mangas. Such an incredibly unique plot and amazing worldbuilding, no other dystopian series had a chokehold on me this bad!

100 years ago, titans emerged pushed humanity into a corner, annihilating all life outside of the walls the remaining humans had built for safety. Eren is first introduced as strong-willed but rather weak/average along with his sister/future romantic interest (lol), Mikasa. They heard stories of whats beyond the 50 meter walls that surround them but the people within the walls have zero knowledge about what the truth is. In the very first chapter, the wall is broken down after a Colossal Titan appears, kicking the gate open which allows in a flow of titans to swarm the town. In my opinion, the quick escalation is what peaked my interest from the very beginning. The plot had started immediately without dragging character introductions or filler scenes. The fast pace in the beginning is made up for in later chapters when these scenes are revisted with greater depth. I think that was an intresting choice because it eventually adds more depth to characters that were only present for a few scenes in the beginning.

I knew Grisha was an important character due to his mysterious disappearance in the beginning of the manga but I didn't really know HOW important he was until his past actions + his backstory was shown. It was clear that Eren loved his mother but his relationship with his father wasn't known until it was revealed that Eren had been manipulating his father's actions the entire time.

Eren's choices throughout the story made sense to me and they stayed consistent the entire time. Planning out a genocide is insane but eradicting the enemy had been his goal from the very start and he wasn't normal to begin with considering he killed for the first time at like 10 years old. He wanted complete freedom from (TBC)