keaton ?????????,??????:*:????????????o(?????????????*)/????????????(*?????????????)o?????????,??????:*:????????????

Waaaaaiiii!! Yesterday was the happiest ever because my friend and I managed to go to this new and probably the ONLY manga kissaten (cafe) in Manila! (?????????????????) Yesterday, a manga cafe just opened in Makati. The place is owned by a Japanese and it caters to the Japanese salaryman who’s comissioned to stay here in Manila (along with other Japanese nationals who reside in Manila). Hence, most mangas are either seinen or shounen in nature. More than that, all of them are in Japanese. ^^v. The place is located near Makati Square. From Waltermart, you can see MANGA KISSA 10! lol. I swear, it’s old man’s humor but I thought it was funny to name the manga cafe like that. lol. The owner is very nice and they even have maids!! it’s like a maid cafe and a manga kissa all in one! I felt quite pampered yesterday. :3 ??????????????????????

What I found strange was that everyone was talking to me in Japanese. That might sound strange but I do look like Filipino and I am living Manila, and yet here were the nice maids asking me if I want another cup of coffee in really polite Japanese. The manager would also remind me from time to time to check on what I want and stuff. And even if I looked Filipino, they would talk to me in Japanese. ^^;; Yesterday, I came in with my Japanese friend, Yue-tan. And we were browsing through the shelves and I was just happy to see the entire set of Captain Tsubasa. The manager came to me and asked what mangas do I like. Yue-tan then tells tenchou that I can understand Japanese and I’m like “OH DEAR! I HAVE TO TALK IN JAPANESE! DAI-PINCH!” ^^;; I’m so used to reading it, but I’m not entirely used to speaking. Nonetheless, tenchou asked me the same question in Japanese and I go… “Spo-tsu manga ga suki. Seinen manga mo suki… (I like sports manga. I also like Adult manga)” in a very nervous and weird sort of way. Iyaaa hazukashii na. But tenchou was nice to talk to me in Japanese the whole time and thank god I didn’t painfully misreplied or anything. I think. ^^v

There are a lot of good titles, and I can’t even know where to start. What I love is it has a mix of old and new along with new manga zasshis!! <3 Particularly Shounen Jump and Shounen Sunday. As for the mangas they have complete sets or at least until the latest of: Golgo 13, KochiKame, School of Water Business, Captain Tsubasa, Kisaragi, and a whole blockade of Naoki Urasawa mangas. Did I say a whole blockade of Naoki Urasawa!? Yeah I did. <3 <3 They have Pineapple Army, Master Keaton, Yawara, and Happy! And they're complete! WAIIII!!! So yesterday, I took a shot at reading Urasawa-sensei's mangas... and naturally, here's what I think...

Master Keaton
This manga is great. Although I may be speaking a little biased as an Urasawa fan. He didn’t even write the story of Master Keaton, but I found it bloody brilliant, nonetheless. I love it for its rootedness in history, archaeology, and ingenuity. Reading Keaton is like watching McGuyver do Indiana Jones’ day job. In the morning he’s a teacher, and when he’s tasked by the agency, he’s out to investigate some crimes.

I managed to read volume 1 in Manga Kissa 10. I honestly wanted to explore it a little further than vol. 1 but I don’t have a dictionary with me and it’s a little difficult to read since it’s texty. More than that, it had a lot of terms used in history, archaeology etc that I can only infer so much. lol. So I would like to apoligize if I don’t really go in depth for Master Keaton. Perhaps in my next visit, I could tell more on how the story progressed from volume 1. So far, my impression is that it’s bloody brilliant. Mr. Keaton is a genius for thinking out of the box.

In one of the later chapters in volume 1, one wherein an unintentional bashing of an important religious site got Keaton’s team of archaeologists stuck in the middle of nowhere. Keaton’s SAS training really came in handy and got them through the desert. He even made them water! WOW. Their survival was considered prophetic, perhaps miraculous, by the religious men. It was amazing though. Especially when he made water just by using rocks! WOW.

It was a great treat, but I have to read more for a full review. <3 HAPPY! Vols. 9-14

I just couldn’t drop the book. This was easy since I’ve been reading a lot of tennis mangas so the language and lingo was no problem at all. More than that, it’s a shoujo manga. ^^v That’s easy to understand.

At the end of the three hours, I swore to myself that the next time I visit the manga kissa, I’m finished with this damn series! It was bloody fun! I finally understood where the drama special’s storyline came from. Honestly, it didn’t save Ohtori-sempai’s image. Despite the confession and the kiss and the struggle… I think Ohtori lacked so much spine that instead of being the loveable prince, he’s… the court jester. I don’t know whether I should feel sad about him or not. You’re a sap Ohtori. Live a little.

On the other hand, Miyuki in the US Finals is amazing! And much like the other volumes, she’s pushing herself to the limit. Santa is now a slighly loveable character. Alan and Wendy were… funny. Alan was funny. Wendy was sweet. That russian chick… Sabrina? Her name escapes me now, but yeah, that girl. I’m quite amused with how Urasawa tried to represent a Russian. She’s such a typical russian. She’s frugal and she doesn’t waste a morsel. She’s also Urasawa’s most unexpressive character too. The kids were dead funny too and it’s sad that we only see glimpses of them in Miyuki’s efforts in the US Open.

As for Choko. I still hate her. I STILL HATE HER. She is one conniving bitch and I really wish that Miyuki defeats her in the US Open. ????(????????????????)(/?????????????)/ As for Sakurada. I noticed that Urasawa’s applying his earlier “go for the underdog” guy formula. I kinda sniffed it before when Sakurada was being nice to Miyuki. It was already obvious by the time he was trying to get Miyuki out of her contracts with the Yakuza boss (who is still freaky, by the way). But I think, it’s more obvious to Miyuki that Sakurada just wants the best for her. Even if it hurts him. I think the dynamics of Sakurada and Miyuki will be a lot more different compared to Yawara and the journalist guy (I’m bad at names… ;A;).

Anyway, until I read the next volumes, here’s my hopes for Miyuki in winning the US Open! Wai!

God, I’m suffering from such a withdrawal from the Manga cafe that I’ve plotting ways to get more cash to get back there as soon as I can. It’s rather expensive. ^^v