In this post I will be reviewing the first volume of a manga called Pandora Hearts. This is a shonen manga (meaning it has a male protagonist) and the genre is fantasy and mystery. This manga is about a boy named Oz Vessalius, heir to the throne of the Vessalius Dukedom. He has just turned 15 and at his coming of age ceremony he is cast into the prison known as "Abyss" for reasons unknown. This prison strongly resembles a nightmarish Wonderland. There he is saved by a "chain" known as Alice, also known as the Bloodstained Black Rabbit. I won't reveal anymore of the story because you should read it yourself if you're interested!

Okay, so now that you know a bit about the story here's my review!

The art was fantastic from page to page and I only had one problem with it. That problem was the artist's use of speed lines. Speed lines are great for adding movement and emphasis on things but adding too many speed lines can obscure the picture. I was in the middle of reading a chapter when a monster was supposed to appear in the reading. I didn't get a clear view of what the monster actually looked like until a few pages later due to the speed lines.

The characters in this manga are mysterious, funny, sly, and interesting. When the character Alice was introduced to the story it was easy to see that she was cunning and mysterious. As the story progressed, the reader (i.e. you) is able to see other sides of Alice's personality that you wouldn't expect! The characters are brilliant in this story and I give them 5 stars.

The last thing I'm going to review is the overall storyline. This manga strongly reminds me of Alice in Wonderland because of the rabbit, pocket watch, an abyss (this reminds me of the rabbit hole), a bizarre land, and a girl named Alice. This story isn't what I expected, and that's a good thing. It was full of mystery and unexpected twists that make you want to keep reading. I can honestly say that I had trouble putting it down long enough for me to write this review! In some parts of the manga the story is hard to follow but if you keep reading things become clearer (for example, the prologue to the book connects with a scene later on in the story.) I can usually predict what will happen next in a manga but this one I'm going to have to keep reading to find out what happens next. I strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a great mystery!

The Secret World of Arrietty

           Studio Ghibli produced a new movie called The Secret world of Arrietty (also known as the Borrower Arrietty). The screenplay was written by Hayao Miyazaki (I've mentioned him in a previous post) and the movie was based on the novel "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton. Miyazaki had been thinking about an adaption for this novel for 40 years! This movie takes place in western Tokyo in the year 2010. It's about tiny people only 10cm tall living under the floorboards of a household. A boy named Sho arrives at the house his mother used to live in and there he discovers the Borrowers. He meets a Borrower named Arrietty and they become close friends. Arrietty's family does not wish to be discovered by humans so they decided to move. I haven't seen this movie yet but I read about it and wrote down a bit of the plot. The English version of the movie is voiced by well known actors such as Bridgit Mendler as Arrietty, David Henry as Sho, Amy Poehler as Shinobu (Arrietty's mother) and more. This movie is scheduled to release in America in February 17, 2012.

Hayao Miyazaki

If you're into Anime then you may recognize the name Miyazaki because you've probably seen at least one of his movies. For those of you who don't know who he is I'll tell you. Miyazaki is a famous film director and animator. His career spanned nearly fifty years and he made some amazing movies. His movie "Princess Mononoke" was the first animated film to win a Picture of the year award in Japan. His movie "Spirited Away" also won Picture of the year, and it also the first Anime film to win an American Academy Award!

Here are some of his movies that I've seen and that I'd recommend for others to see:

 

*Princess Mononoke

*Spirited Away

*My Neighbor Totoro

*Castle in the Sky

*Howl's moving Castle

*Kiki's delivery service

*Ponyo
About Miyazaki:
He is sometimes known as "the Japanese Walt Disney" because he is one of Japan's greatest animators, like Walt Disney is to America. His work is even famous in America. He was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1941.



Some of his movie trademarks are as follows:

He usually has two main characters that are young, one being a male and the other a female.
His characters usually have some kind of flying scene (Miyazaki is very interested in flight).
He includes scenes in the closing titles that show you what happened to the character after the movie.
He usually gives a character in his movie some sort of alias. (In Spirited Away Chihiro is given the name Sen)
A strange male character controls a complex machine (Kamaji in Spirited Away controls the boiler).
Makes references to nature (My neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke).
The characters usually enter a strange world (The floating islands of the Castle in the Sky) .


Miyazaki's work has inspired many manga artists, animators, and game designers.

Manga and Anime for Beginners

Though Manga and Anime are similar, they are not the same. Manga and Anime are usually recognizable by the exaggerated expressions and features of the characters. The eyes are typically large and their hair is very unique. You can find Anime that is based off of a Manga or vice versa

Main characters from the anime/manga series "Fairy Tail"



The term 'Anime' comes from the word animation. Anime is Japanese animated production, as known as cartoons. These cartoons can have a variety of genres including romance, comedy, action, fantasy, and sci-fi. Anime isn't just for kids, there are different types of Anime for all age groups.
Manga is the Japanese word for comics. These comics are typically in black and white and are read from right to left. Sometimes it's tricky for people (Americans *cough *cough)  to read it this way but some Manga have pages in the front or the back of the book that have directions on how to read it. Some Manga have warnings at the back of the book that keep you from spoiling a good ending!

When I started to like anime and manga

      I've been interested in anime ever since I was little. I watched shows like 'Mew Mew Power,' 'Zatch Bell,' and 'Kirby Right Back At Ya.' I also watched Pokémon, Yu-gi-oh!, and other shows. I never actually knew that the majority of the shows I watched were called anime. When searching the channels on my T.V. I discovered Naruto and W.I.T.C.H. (I'm not sure if this is really anime or not but I'll count it as American Anime for now). I don't know how I learned the term 'anime' but I think it was around the time I first watched Naruto. I love the expressions that anime characters convey and I think it's cute when I see the chibi from of a character. I first became interested in Manga when I picked up a book and started reading it. From then on I read tons of manga and watched just as much anime. And I even took up drawing some myself!

                                                        Chibi forms of Naruto and Sakura

      

            Luckily for me, a lot of my friends are interested in manga and Anime too. I'm even part of the Anime Club at my school. We all recommend books and shows to each other and we all go to Anime Club. In Anime Club we vote on shows to watch, have drawing contests, play Pokémon Pictionary, and we even talked about which sushi we like the best.

Welcome to the Moe Manga and Anime blog

       Hi, I'm Delia and I'm a high school student in Maine. This blog is where I'll post reviews on manga I've read and anime I've watched (movies included). You may be wondering about the title of the blog, like why would I say "Moe Manga and Anime?" The word 'Moe' isn't pronounced how you may think .
       It is pronounced "Mo-ay" and it is a term I found while reading the manga "Moe U.S.A." and it basically means 'cute.' The reason I put that word there is to indicate that I read a lot of Shojo manga, or as some refer to it as "cutesy manga" due to the fact that more girls read this style than guys do. I don't just read cutesy manga though, I also read books/watch anime like One Piece, Naruto, Fairy Tail, and The Black Butler. I hope to give a variety of reviews and I might even post drawing tips on how to get started with your own manga.

I'll review the manga and anime on these basic points (maybe even more):

1. The art work. Is it sloppy, neat, creative different?

2. The characters. Does their body language and expressions tell what kind of character they are?

3. The story. Is the story too predictable? Is it interesting? Does it make me want to read/watch more?

 Don't forget to recommend movies, anime, manga to be reviewed.