School Rumble Vol. 1

School Rumble Vol. 1 (DVD)


By: Shinji Takamatsu
Reviewed by: gothiclolitamaiden, 15
Rating: Really liked it


This is one wacky anime. Before I tell you my opinion of it, I have to explain the plot. Tenma likes Karasuma, Karasuma is completely oblivious to her affections. Harima (a self-proclaimed delinquent) likes Tenma, but she is oblivious that he likes her. Typical love triangle, right? Wrong. School Rumble is much wackier than any love triangle I have ever seen. The first few episodes focus on the triangle, but later episodes portray Tenma's sister and her tangled love life. Both Tenma and Harima try all sorts of schemes to attract the attention of their beloved. It's amazing how their minds work in such similar ways. I won't bother trying to explain the wackiness, see it for yourself. I didn't watch the English dub, so I can't really comment on it, but I thought that the Japanese voices were really good. The character designs were all cute and distinctive, though I don't know what Tenma sees in Karasuma.... Something I didn't like was that some of the jokes referred to aspects of Japanese culture that Western viewers may not be familiar with. I assume that these references were either edited out or diluted in the English version, but I prefer to watch my anime with subtitles. The opening and ending music wasn't top-notch, but was upbeat and fit the series perfectly. Most of the time, I didn't notice the background music because I was too busy laughing my head off.



Recommended to: Fans of comedy anime with a little background on Japanese culture. Despite the PG rating 12+ for some suggestive/crude content.

Twilight (The Movie)

Twilight


Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke
Reviewed by: Missy, 16
Rating: Hated it!


OMG!!!! They screwed up the whole frickin movie!!!! thats all I can say. The Edwards and Bellas acting was absolutly pitiful! But i must say that both of Edwards and Bellas fathers fit the charecter near to perfection.

They skipped alot of the romance, and putting in scenes that were never even in the book, but only lead up to the frickin fight scene. I mean, James, Laurent, and Victoria werent even there at the beging of the book, they are adding scenes from the second book into the movie.

And what the frick is with Edward bightign Bella?!?!?! He didnt even frickin bight her in the book, that kinda takes out of the purpose of suckign out the venom. but noooooo, he just had to bite her.

And the kissing... i do not remeber him pushing her into the bed, getting oh so passionate... i was like, omg... stay with the frickin book!

And whats with the tree climbing? hmm.. maybe he is a radioactive spider dude... jeeze a weeze They didnt show the paintings of carlisle and his friends ((hmm... i wonder how there going to do movie 2 with out that, cause that was kinda big for movie 2)) And what the frick is with Jasper?!?! he looked like he was about to cry, and him and rosela looked like they were wearing wigs, which they were. And in the movie, i dont see anything unique about edwards hair, its susposed to be unique I must say, the only good vampire that i liked int he movie of the 5 kids was alice, the actress filled in the part perfectly, with the attitude and looks.

And the music... I bought the soundtrack to twilight befor ei watche dthe movie, so i pretty much know all of the lyrics... the places where they put the songs does not even remotly match, except for the piano part for bellas lyllaby OMG, dont even get me started on that scene, that freakin lowsy scene. I dont remember it beign are dark and gloomy. It was susposed to be light, and like a normal house.

And the fighting scene, didnt James bight Bella on the PALM ((not rist)) before Edward came to save here? not after, and didnt she hit her head on the frickin glass?!?

And what is with Bella being so suddenly rich and fashionable?!??!? Shes susposed to be average. Ipods are not cheap, fashionable clothes are not cheap. You think a mother with no job, a father in law who is a terrible base ball player, and a dad who works in a small town able to afford all of that? nooooo. She doesnt have a job, so that doesnt work And what happened to the other dance, they skipped it and went straight to the prom! What happened to Tyler asking bella out cause he felt really sorry for her? And didnt Bella already know that Edward was a vampire before she went dress shoppign with her friends?!? didnt Jacob tell bella that the cold ones are vampires at the beach party?!

They Royally screwed up this movie.

This movie was absolutly terrible compared to the book. Terrible acting, terrible graphics, and just plain, out right terrible. get my point?


Recommended to: no one who loves the book twilight

Lord Loss

Lord Loss


By: Darren Shan
Reviewed by: Missy, 16
Rating: It was amazing!

This book was amazingly written, with so much gory detail in it. It felt like the demon was right in front of you, and you can almost see as cockroaches slowly crept upon his head, eating at his dead green skin.

This novel is not meant for the easily queasy folks, but those who are into detailed, on the edge of your seat, horror fanatics. It was very descriptive, but not a 2 paragraph story, but descreptive enough to where you know what your looking at.

This novel had a good plot, and a good ending, making you to want more, to never put the book down.


Recommended to: Teens who are into horror

Crash

Crash


By: Lion's Gate Films
Reviewed by: Missy, 16
Rating: It was amazing!


The movie, Crash, I thought was absolutly amazing.

There have been so many movies that show only the good side of the world, or only the small parts of the bad, this movie shows so many bad things around. Racist, sexual abuse, robbery, slave market, all the stuff that too many people turn a blind eye to.

There have been scenes in it to were it just takes your breath away, your chest tightens, and your eyes start to sting as tears form. You just want to go into the TV and help them out, but can only sit back and watch. This story has laughs to it, but is more of a serios movie. The actors, in my opinion, were fabulos, gettign the part perfectly. It makes you to really start thinking about whats out in the world. And it makes you want to get up off the couch to go help out, to make a difference.
It is nice to see the real dangers of the world, and to see the outcomes of those who are hurt by the dangers, and also doing the dangers.

This movie you must watch from begining to end, you cannot skip the beginign, or you will be confused through out the movie, nor can you skip the middle, its one of those movies were you have to sit through.

It is not boring, and keeps you on the edge of your seat, which is while i really love it.


Recommended to: mature teens and above

New Moon

New Moon


By: Stephenie Meyer
Reviewed by: Missy, 16
Rating: Didn't like it


The novel, New Moon, in my opinion is not very good.
After an unfortunate night at the cullens house, Edward has been thinking about what is right and wrong for Bellas and his relationship, and ends up breaking up with her.
After the page of this, I was shocked, rereading the sentances over and over again, thinking "What the!! This cant be happening! After all he has done, he just breaks up with her!! What an....."

Bella goes into a depresion mood for several months, loosing most of her friends and terrifing her father. After being threated of going back home, she gets her act up, deciding to do risking and stupid things, only to hear Edwards voice, before hanging out with Jacob.

At first I thought it was just funny, with Jacobs friends and all. I was so tempted to just skip the whole book till It got back to Edward again. I do not like the idea of her taking out Edward, and replacing him with Jacob. She just wrote a long butt story, Twilight, making you fall in love with Edward. And then takes him away within a second, and having Bella start to fall in love with Jacob. dude, rip off! thats not nice to do to a young heart, yearning for the voice of Edwa.... ok, i admit, a bit obsessed, but i doubt im the only one.

I think that this book is torturing and slow to read, till you get to close to the end, jumping up and out of your chair, a large smile back on your face. You can nearly feel the same way as Bella. But I still do not like the Idea of takign out one of the main charecters, and replacing him with an unknown one, leaving you to suffer.

But if you have read the book twilight, I would suggest reading New Moon, not skippping it to read book 3. There are parts in new moon that you must know in order to go to book 3. But be prepared for your heart to be ripped out and being torn bit by bit as you stand side by side with bella, unable to forget Edward, then start to fall in love with Jacob, only to have him taken......


Recommended to: Romance wanters

Twilight

Twilight


By: Stephenie Meyer
Reviewed by: Missy, 16
Rating: Really liked it


The book twilight, as some of you may of known, is very popular. Some people love, while others dislike it. I have heard from friends that they think that Edward is far to protective, while Bella is far to annoying. But that is why i enjoyed this story. Edward, a beast to human kind, has fallen in love with a human, who he wants to more than anything, sink his teeth into her skin to taste her drugs.

While Bella, I have come to realize from reading the story, is actually very annoying. But thats what makes it such a wierd, yet awesome couple. It kinda makes you think, wow, Bella, an average girl, with a not so kind attitude, is dating this beautiful, "young", unique man, Edward. He tries everything he can to protect her, even betraying his heart to save her from danger.

There are scenes to were you feel like crying, or just shaking your head, thinking, "what an idiot!!" or just plain laugh. It gets all the emotions you need for a day, or week, dependign on how long it takes you to read a book.

The begining is a bit slow, and uninteresting, especially after hearing so much about the "charming" Edward. I like how Stephenie created new myths of vampires, while taking out the un-believable ones. Yet there are some that are un-believable, but it is still good.

This book though, does not have much action in it. The movie has put in more action in it than there really is. It is more of a romance novel than anything else. I think this book was really well written, and worth the read, for the girls. I dont think many guys will like it unless they are more into romance, heart melting stories.


Recommended to: Romance wanters

Manga: The Complete Guide

Manga: The Complete Guide


By: Jason Thompson
Reviewed by: gothiclolitamaiden, 15
Rating: Really liked it


I never thought I needed a guide to manga, but I picked this book up anyway. I checked it out partly because I wanted to see if the author knew nothing about manga or anime and totally screwed it up, partly because I was being optimistic. I'm happy to say that the author did his homework to write this book. The guide is written for beginners in the world of manga. It contains information on all of the different genres of manga. There are summaries and reviews of some manga, as well as as age ratings. Reading the reviews was entertaining for me. I found myself agreeing or disagreeing with the author on different series. It has a guide for katakana, hiragana, and some common kanji. And for fans of yaoi, there was an entire section with summaries, reviews and age ratings for yaoi. For some people the best part of the guide will be the sample manga panels included every few pages or so.


Recommended to: Anybody who isn't very well acquainted with manga, anyone who likes to read reviews for the heck of it.

Brave Story Volume 1: A Retelling of a Classic

Brave Story Volume 1: A Retelling of a Classic


By: Miyuki Miyabe & Yoichiro Ono
Reviewed by: Cindy, 14
Rating: Didn't like it


Junior high school student, Wataru, has an average life. His only true skill is playing video games. Then, one day, a new transfer student comes to his school. He's perfect at everything and even beats Wataru at his own game. Wataru follows him and discovers the world of Vision and the powers of a traveler.

First of all, the plot wasn't very original. I'm sure any manga fan has seen this kind of plot before. I call it a "fast food" manga. There are a lot of them but they're kind of the same. Some are better and some just get boring. This one didn't have anything specific that seemed unique.

The characters were just basic shounen types. Wataru is the usual not-very-special guy who finds a magical world and discovers something amazing about him. And of course, he has a crush on a pretty girl at school. She just happens to like the "perfect" new kid though. The stereotypes just keep going.

The character designs are a little boring but since its just the first volume, I didn't expect the art to be great.

Overall, I don't see much potential and having already read the next two volumes, I don't plan on further reviewing.


Recommended to: 13+

Fearless

Fearless


By: Taylor Swift
Reviewed by: Tina R., 13
Rating: It was amazing!


This cd is Taylor Swift's newest one out. She is a great singer and these songs are a great tune. You won't get tired of these songs! Fearless and White Horse are my personal favorites. I recomend this cd to all Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood fans


Recommended to: All country music fans!

Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon


By: Julie Halpern
Reviewed by: Tina R., 13
Rating: It was alright...


This book is about a depressed teen whose parents send her to a mental hospital with other teens just like her. This book is great and funny and will make you keep reading. If you've ever felt just a little bit crazy..or "out there"...you should read this book!


Recommended to: Teens, ages 13-15