Innocent Days(イノセント・デイズ) Japanese Drama Thoughts

    Innocent Days is a Japanese drama that used to air on Sundays produced by a company named Wowwow. The drama was directed by Ishikawa Kei and written by Goto Noriko. Kazumasa Hayami was the writer of the original novel this drama adaption was based off of.  Tsumabuki Satoshi, Takeuchi Yuko(Strawberry Nights, Creepy), Hirofumi Arai(Gintama), and, Yoshine Kyoko star in the drama special.



   A woman is accused of a crime then sentenced to death. Her childhood friends race against time to try to prove her innocence before she is executed.

   I'm not sure how long the novel was but the writer of the script managed to compile everything into six episodes. Plus, the episodes are not extremely long either. The first episode is basically an introduction to the characters's back stories. Much is learned about the characters origins in close detail. To be completely honest with you, the first episode was kind of boring to me. Seeing the characters before they were grown wasn't too exciting. The reason being that nothing exciting happens during this episode. Some pretty shady and interesting information is introduced to viewers but you don't know what to do with this information until latter. Things defiantly pick up the pace staring from the second episode onward. More info is told about the main character through the eyes of the people who knew her. In fact, the whole drama is one of the friends taking matters into his own hands for a little game of detective Sherlock Homes. He tries to put the pieces together to figure out the kind of person this woman has become during the years that he hasn't seen her. Watching the different accounts told by the people who knew her was engrossing. These people all had a connection to her committing the crime: They all felt like they drove her to do it. Each person had actions of wrong doing in their stories, making this drama all the more engaging. You're then leaning over in the edge of your seat trying to figure out if she did the crime or if she's covering for someone else. My biggest disappointment involving Innocent Days is the way everything ended. The ending makes viewers feel kind of like all that transpired was all for nothing. There's a bit of a "smoother over" but it still felt a bit like a downer to me. Other people might feel differently so watch for yourself too.

   I watched this for Satoshi mostly. He plays the childhood friend who is trying to prove the woman's innocence. His character is pretty quiet and awkward but he finds the confidence to see his investigation through till the end. I felt awkward watching him in character on screen. That's how good he was. The best performance award goes to Yuko, No question about that. She had so much inner battles with her self since she didn't have an easy life. All her scenes with the other characters made me want to rip my heart out of my chest. Especially the scenes her character had with Satoshi's character and the prison guard(Kyoko). You don't really have one set emotion for her character. Viewers will watch her resolve slowly crumble as time passes. All of the extended cast did well as the ones who had to keep the background stories alive and interesting.

   Watch Innocent Days for the drama and mystery but don't expect too much. If you're a fan of any of the actors/actresses in there, I would say to watch it. Six episodes is nothing compared to other dramas. You'll be done before you know it.

 

DREAMCATCHER(드림캐쳐) - Nightmare(악몽): Escape the Era Album Thoughts(K-rock)

Track List:
01. INSIDE-OUTSIDE (Intro)
02. YOU AND I 
03. Mayday
04. 어느 별
05. Scar (이 더럽고도 추한…)
06. YOU AND I (Inst.)

    DreamCatcher is one of those idol girl groups that just kept reinventing themselves until they got it right. The girls had another name then they dropped that name and the record label they were signed to along with it. Happy Face Entertainment is the new home of the girls plus two new members. I guess the people there decided to do things in a new way for them. From their re-debut to this album, Dreamcatcher has capitalized on a hard rock sound. Someone producing for the group got a whiff of the anti idols that have become ever so popular in Japan and got the idea to bring this concept to Korea. Escape the Era already gained promise because of the shadow lingering lead titled track called You and I. A track like this is needed in Kpop right about "now" even though I'm late posting about them. This track has endless appeal based on the dark rock sound that aids the girls as they dance. While this might not be anything new for me or people that like Japanese music, You and I is a showing progress that Kpop could become an individual thinking genre of music again in the immediate future. The mini album that contains this attention grabbing track isn't as good though. Mayday comes on following right behind You and I acting as a sequel to the track. Its a level below You and I but good enough for you to enjoy both songs as a pair. Dreamcatcher's charm steady disappears after Mayday finishes, sadly. You're then forced to face a three more tracks of the girls singing normal Kpop songs that don't do them an ounce of justice nor do they stand out from the other sugar coated Kpop girl groups ruling the charts in Korea currently. Switching between pop and rock isn't a bad plan but there's an art to it that J-pop idol girl groups like BiSH have mastered. BiSH changes their style while keeping the intensity that they bring to all their songs(even when I don't like all their songs.). Dreamcatcher has to learn how to keep their music interesting. Otherwise it's really easy to replace them in an industry like Kpop. The best thing that these girls have going for them is their growing fanbase overseas. Korea is catching on to them too recently however, they have more growing to do in popularity. Escape the Era wasn't as good as I wish it would have been overall. Only two songs really stood out to me. 

   Their voices sound like other Korean female singers to me. Taking away the rock sound would cause them to sound like all the other groups. This bothers me a little bit. I do like their voices though. Also, there's a part in You and I where one of the girls raps using melody which I though was cool and different. They need to expand more on what they have created. 

   Escape the Era is the same as having a small appetizer before the full course meal. The mini album showed a little promise. I need a bit more. Pushing them to create music outside of the normal Kpop sound will take them far. 

SHINee(샤이니) - The Story of Light Mini Album Thoughts(Kpop)

  I've been supporting this group of guys since day one. I didn't come in the middle of their career or toward the end of Jonghyun's life. My support has been given to SHINee since they dropped their first song called Replay. It feels like so many years ago now but who would have thought at the time that they would go on to be such a huge group in Korea and Japan? Jonghyun's death was the equivalent of a thousand needles hitting me in the heart. A person never wants to see someone leave this world so young. Especially when you seen them in the spotlight at a young age. SHINee somehow still manage to get their heads on straight enough to release new music after the tragedy. We as listeners are also trying to put the pieces back together again. The Story of Light is said to be the first half of SHINee's 6th album which will be released in different parts.

Track List:
01. All Day All Night
02. 데리러 가 (Good Evening)
03. Undercover
04. JUMP
05. 안녕 (You & I)

   The biggest goal for The Story of Light(at least for me) was to see how the remaining boys were going to deal with Jonghyun's absence. He was SHINee's biggest voice in my opinion so you look to hear a big space where his vocals should be. All Day All Night opens the album in a med tempo that's a bit too bouncy for it's own good. The track would ultimately be classified as RnB and The boy's don't miss a beat filling in their vocals. That beat keeps the tempo of the instrumental while also dropping it's sound down hard and rapidly. Listeners could get the party started when this track comes through the speakers. I just feel like Ive heard this song before. EXO could have sang this track because it sounds like a song that they would've put on an album. Instead the track went to SHINee though. Good Evening puts SHINee in the mainstream pop trend that's very rapid in today's Kpop industry. I listened to this song two times in order to catch the dual meaning of the song. One meaning has to do with yearning for a girl but I believe the deeper meaning has to do with the lyrics stating that the boys will always have Jonghyun along side them even if his physical body is no longer here. Those Metallophone's playing in the background at the chorus made the beat in the instrumental feel even more sugary pop. SHINee did what most other kpop boybands don't do during this kind of song too. They sang more lyrics instead of letting the beat play for a whole section of the chorus. I wouldn't have liked this song had they not done that. Undercover sounds alright after you let it play for about two choruses. The chorus does feel a bit messy and disorganized at times until you figure out where the track is trying to go. Whoever was playing that flute in the background had me receiving life from the artsy style of everything. Jump was probably written for another artist originally until SM bought the rights(I might be wrong.). I say this because the English lyrics are a tad bit sexual without flowing together to what is being said in Korean. These lyrics are the catchiest part of the song too. You & I is good lyrically and a nice closing song. I'm probably not going to remember this track months from now, however.

  Taemin stepped up to the plate big time during the recording of this EP. I forgot how strong his voice was. That probably being because he was always a step behind Jonghyun. Now, this guy has filled in the role of the member responsible for hitting those big notes. Key and Onew have moments to shine bright too as all of them are needed for those group harmonies. Was it just me or did Minho not really rap? He must not have had any bars prepared.

   The Story of Light was the first Kpop release in a LONG time that didn't make me want to skip half of what I was hearing. That's a pretty impressive feat to me. Let's see what else SHINee has in stored for us.

Mon Mon Mon Monsters(報告老師！怪怪怪怪物!) Taiwanese Film Thoughts(2017)

   Mon Mon Mon Monsters was released last year in Taiwan. The film was directed and written by Giddens Ko. I don't know any of the cast but the biggest actor seems to be Kent Tsui. You guys can research about the cast later if you want. They all seem like newcomers to me mostly. Many film festivals seemed to have enjoyed this film for it's out of the box artsy display of scenes. It always won an award for best sound effects at the 58th Golden Horse Awards.

   A boy and a group of his classmates who bullied him are sent to volunteer at a senior citizen's home. They find two female ghouls in the complex's basement who try to run away but the boys capture one of them. Thus, beginning a horror of events for them all.

   Being completely sadistic would be a good word to describe a good chunk of this film. This film deals with introducing you to characters that you will have very strong feelings about. First emotion, being that none of the characters are not even the slightest bit likable. Second emotion being that the character that you could potentially like is too easily caught up with the bad apples. What's worse is that these boys are the ones that cause all of his misfortune. These boys and one girl get involved in a bunch of shenanigans that will have viewers exclaiming stuff along the lines of "what in the world?". They do these things just because they don't think that there will be punishment. Even if there is, Their leader still pushed ahead with his plans anyway. I got a bit tired of all of the crazy actions from the characters after awhile. You can only use so much energy hating people until you get tired out. Only other events to look at was the monster's rampage during the other half and hour of the film. This changed the dynamic of the film's story flow just based on viewers having a new conflict to adsorb into. Two of the most epic scenes in Mon Mon Mon Monsters consist of this monster in a college classroom, then on a public bus. I absolutely loved how horrific these scenes where to the point that it not only held nothing back but also expanded on the monster as a key character to the film. Stripping down Mon Mon Mon Monster's content to the main message of the film makes you relate to the script all the more. Every single character in this film did something wrong and it shows that people can be really evil to the world solely for the purpose of easing their own pain. They don't care about the pain they cause others just as long as they feel better about themselves. I was also reminded about people being bystanders in certain situations that they know deep down in their heart is wrong. People who are bystanders are as much to blame as the ones actually doing the action. Don't let "Well, I'm not the one doing it" or "that doesn't involve me so…" kind of excuses be validation for your reason of not speaking up. Turning a blind eye to people being hurt by others makes you just as to blame as the offenders. We as humans have a mouth, eyes, and a brain for a reason. I understand being afraid to speak up also but at some point you will need to. Mon Mon Mon Monsters's conclusion was really damage control for the ones left behind.  This scene along with the scene leading up to it are epic. Viewers will feel a deep satisfaction with the lesson learned from the full outcome. This is what I call an awesome closure for a film.

   I'm basically supporting what I said above about the characters when it comes to the actor's and actresses's performances. I hated everyone so you can imagine that the acting was good. Of course, I didn't hate the people playing the characters however, Their talent in crafting their characters made me considering private anger management sessions. My shoe magically came off my foot then slipped into my hand every time the teacher or the leader of the bullies came on screen. One of them was about to get a shoe thrown at their face. A bit of background story was introduced to explain why the leader was the way he was(Still didn't like him) but that teacher made me so made that I could have cried. Honestly, the ghouls in this film don't seem to bad compared to the people's actions. Even though none was innocent when you look at the full picture. If one thing hadn't happened, all the other events could have been avoided. It was really the domino effect mixed with a weak character going along with whatever happens thanks to peer pressure.

   Mon Mon Mon Monsters is a film that makes you rethink your actions when you're around people and something is going on that isn't right. You will think a lot about the warped characters in generally after you finish the film. I would call this drama and horror done right.

BTS(방탄소년단) - LOVE YOURSELF 轉(TEAR) Album Thoughts(K-Rap/Pop)

01. Intro: Singularity (Ft. V (BTS))
02. FAKE LOVE 
03. 전하지 못한 진심 (The Truth Untold) (Ft. Steve Aoki)
04. 134340
05. 낙원 (Paradise)
06. Love Maze
07. Magic Shop
08. Airplane Pt. 2
09. Anpanman
10. So What
11. Outro: Tear
 



   The Bullet Proof Boy Scouts continue to gain popularity worldwide thanks to their ever so devoted fanbase. They have snagged two awards in America as of three days ago and are looking to do very well on the American Billboard Charts this week. Their newest album titled LOVE YOURSELF: Tear hit the number one spot in sixty five countries within hours of the album's release online. LOVE YOURSELF is said to be a statement made by the group's lead rapper, RM(Rap Monster) about learning to love the skin that you're in.

   I don't plan to make this a super long post on my thoughts. I've done posts on BTS before so most of what I want to say hasn't changed that much from back then. Tear comes out for fans of the boys with a bomb ass title track called Fake Love. I'm in no denial that I rather see BTS promoting this song in the USA than DNA. Fake Love fits more into what an American listener would expect from a boyband in the early 2000s. Only the lyrics are eighty percent in Korean. The track was written and produced by an American producer(like many other Kpop songs, just translated in Korean.) then BTS put their tweaks on the lyrics. BTS always has an emotional story to tell you in their lyrics. Fake Love along with other tracks  on the album have a theme of finding strength in weakness at certain times in life. No matter if it's through love or the hardships of life. Both topics are up for discussion for Tear. Fake Love embodies the hurt in it's production as well. The instrumental is so well produced that you have to really focus in on all the components to actually catch everything. A sound effect like a gust of wind enters the song right at the start of the chorus that brings an added strength to the vocals. I also noticed the added guitars playing lightly under the beat for a distressed kind of sound. Anpanman is my next favorite track because of the old school BTS vibes that I got from the song. It's very groovy to a extent that the  tracks comes across as juvenile to me. Bangtan Boys used to be the guys that broke all the rules until they got mega famous outside of Korea. Their music isn't as powerful as it once was in my opinion. They just make pretty boring pop records now that are a hit or miss. If your lucky, you might find a few tracks on their albums that are good but don't expect a masterpiece like "O!RUL8,2?". That's not happening anymore. The real reason I still check for BTS is because of RM. I listened to Tear throughout it's entirety while waiting for a track that had RM spitting some real bars. The damn outro was the only track that really had RM going off a little bit. That's very sad to me. Dude is too talented to not be given more rap parts. Tear has about four tracks that I like if you count the last track. At least I liked some of the songs…..

  What's starting to dawn on me the more I pay close attention to BTS's performances is that they are not super strong vocalists. They are good at what they do, don't get me wrong but they don't have outstanding vocals at all. I would also like to point out that there was improvement in their ranges from what I hear on each album but they don't go out of their way to show that they can hit those high notes often. V's voice is a daddy's voice… Enough said about that[INSERT ME LAUGHING.].  J-hope's rapping bothers me when RM starts off the rap so strong then he sounds less powerful. WORK ON THAT VOICE PROJECTION BOY!! He did rap really well with RM on the last track though. I'll give him that.

  I'm cheering BTS on from the back of the room while wishing them all the success they deserve. I'm not a huge fan of them anymore(Ok, I'm a huge fan of RM.). They just aren't my cup of tea.

 

Nariaki Obukuro(小袋成彬) - Summer of Secession(分離派の夏) Album Thoughts(J-music)

Tracklist:
01. 042616 @London
02. Game
03. E. Primavesi
04. Daydreaming in Guam
05. Selfish
06. 101117 @El Camino de Santiago
07. Summer Reminds Me
08. GOODBOY
09. Lonely One feat.宇多田ヒカル
10. 再会
11. 茗荷谷にて
12. 夏の夢
13. 門出
14. 愛の漸進

 

   Nariaki Obukuro stepped into the spotlight after he worked with Hikaru Utada on a track that was used for her last album. He performed the song with the famous singer live on television and then announced later that he would be releasing his own debut album. Utada was featured on the album's lead single "Lonely One" while also producing half of the album. The album was met with moderate success as the debut placed at number 38 on the Oricon charts. Lonely One did very well on Japan's Spotify site, topping the chart for the most played song that week. Originally, Nariaki Obukuro was the CEO of Tokyo Recordings. He's produced music for a couple of famous singers in the past.

   I can smell Utada Hikaru all over the tracks on this album. Just as she described how she wanted her new music to be "artsy", Obukuro's debut bring forth a bunch of experimental sounds. This album doesn't let you place the guy in one box easily. My mind can't decided what genre of music he leans towards more. Lonely One makes listeners think that he would be more of an RnB singer but this album begs to differ. Each track has production that adds different shades of color to the album. Thinking about the music of the album off the top of my head, He might be more of a experimental ballad singer. The production sounds very transformative to me though. Music for some of the tracks starts off with slow piano, them becomes electrical pop right in the middle of a song. Obukuro plays around with the musical dynamic a lot which is impressive. Slow paced Violins that suddenly change into a band of med tempo guitars and drums grace the inside Obukuro's musical vision. Nothing stays the same in his instrumentals nor are they simple productions that anyone could create. Paying too much attention to the production caused a lack of something else in my opinion: Excitement. There's no really fun moments during the album's duration. A more upbeat song here and there would have been a nice touch. Even Utada made sure to put some upbeat music in her last album. Being artsy isn't a risk for Utada either. She's a big name in Japan however, Obukuro had this one time to make a great first impression as a solo artist. I believe he would have got a top ten spot on Oricon Chart had he done a more dance type song as his second single. It could have been just as artsy too.

   Nariaki's voice can get up there to a high range. He likes his voice to hang around up there in the sky like Utada. Sometimes it can be a bit too much on my ears but I like his tone overall. Utada can be heard in the feature as well as singing background vocals on a few of the tracks. Her feature vocals showcased her singing a more RnB style after a long time of not revisiting the genre. That vocal run she attempted needed some work. She struggled a little bit and I always feel like you shouldn't sing a run if you're not sure the run is going come out strong. If the run sounds weak, you don't sound good as a singer. Some people were saying that the high note was flat but it wasn't. The high note was fine to me. Nariaki didn't have any problems singing Lonely One in a way that showed his vocal ability. It would have been nice if they had harmonized the last chorus of the track together.

   I'll be listening out for this guy. He has much more growing to do. Hopefully the next release will correct the mistakes that his debut made. I'm totally late posting about him…. Sorry guys!

 

Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds(신과함께-죄와 벌) Korean Film Thoughts(2017)

   Along With The Gods( literal translation is With The Gods: Sin and Punishment) was originally a webtoon in South Korea that had a huge following online. Kim Yong Hwa is the creator of the online comic but Joo Ho Min wrote the script for the live action film adaption. He also directed the film lead by an all star cast of Ha Jung Woo, Ju Ji Hoon, Cha Tae Hyun, and Kim Hyang Gi. Lee Jung Jae, Child actress Kim Soo Ahn, D.O. of boyband EXO, and Kim Ha Neul make special appearances as supporting cast members. The film debuted at the top of the Korean box-office, selling over a million tickets as of the end of last year. It's still currently the second most watched film in South Korea.


  A firefighter must face the afterlife after he suddenly dies. He is led through different stages of hell where he must prove why he is worthy of going to heaven. Three Gods of death help him on his journey.

   I wouldn't have watched this film had it not been for the casting of Ha Jung Woo and Ju Ji Hoon ultimately. Now that I have gotten this little fact out of the way, My other interest in the film came from the little snippets of trailers that I found floating around the internet last year. These clips made Along With The Gods look like a very intense fun watching experience so I was even more excited to watch when the chance came. I've watched this film two times now and I must say that the film isn't as intense as I hope that it would have been but this film does do a lot of things right in the long run. First of all, the film wastes no time jumping into the most important part of the film's central conflict. I enjoyed this fact a lot because the writer didn't feel that the story needed a huge before introduction to the characters. You learn more about each character as you go along which saves the viewer from watching a ton of boring build up scenes. The scenes to add deeper foundation to the characters are there for the characters that need them in flashbacks. The film focuses a lot on the world in the afterlife at first. This was the most interesting part of the whole film for me. While watching these scenes be executed beautifully, I waited for the action to unfold for that same intensity that was highlighted in the trailers. It takes a bit for Along With The Gods to actually unleash the sword fighting mayhem full throttle. These moments(when you finally get to them) are not disappointing nor are they "jump out my chair and report to momma" kinds of action sequences. We get just enough to not feel cheated out of the few minutes of our lives spent to see them. It's funny that I always state that a film doesn't need to rely on action instead of plot to make a great film. For this instance, Some off the chain action was a must to fill in that missing piece to make everything feel complete to me. I do feel that the script tries to dilute it's dark content into a melodrama mold that wasn't always necessary. Some of the scenes that had to do with the past background story seemed too mediocre. Kind of like it was recycled from an old period Korean drama that aired on television in South Korea already. Been there, done that with the reincarnated characters and that girl from another time scenarios. I'm not going to enjoy the rest of the story if that's where we're going to end up. Family values plays a big part in this film as well. Korean culture values at it's finest to be honest. This element went well with the plot's flow so I didn't mind it. In fact, I enjoyed the attempts at trying to pull at my heart strings. No tears came out of these eyes but I did manage a couple of "Awwws" here and there. Along With The Gods went a little off the correct path when it tried to deliver what it THOUGHT the masses of Koreans would enjoy watching in it's Korean drama fashion. Half of the audience might like this direction of story telling then the other half might want a bit of a change from the normal formula. Leave the over planned out melodrama for televised Korean dramas(These can be good at times.). Other than that, the film finishes up nicely especially since there will be a continuation.

   A big part of making this film enjoyable goes to the cast. Everyone was on their A game like they had something to prove to viewers. What's funny is that all of them are very well established actors and actresses. D.O. even attend some acting classes because his acting got better than before. My favorite character would have to be played by Ji Hoon. That guy had jokes all throughout this damn film. He was throwing so much shade at people that most don't catch, making his character even funnier. His acting was the whole core of the comedy element for Along With The Gods. Tae Hyun normally plays goofy characters so it was refreshing seeing him give the clown hang up a rest. Ha Jung Woo's role was a dead give away. Dude could have come on set drunk off Soju and still acted the hell out of that role. I threw my hands up in defeat when he acting in the scene like a lawyer pleading his case. Fans of him know that he can play roles like these in his sleep. Kim Soo Ahn once again comes out not playing any games with folks. This young actress is a terror because she is extremely talented at such a young age. She giving the older actresses a run for their money already! Imagine how good she will be years from now. I hope I'm around to see what she becomes as an actress. Kim Hyang Gi's acting was the symbolism of someone who can see the good in a person when all else is telling you he or she is the opposite. You could feel her support in her performance. The last few scenes of this film with her in them are especially powerful performances from her as an actress.

  The special effects when their airborne fighting remind me of the one's used in Harry Potter films. Dementors want their moves back guys. All of the effects were done well. From the green screen settings and beasts down to the action sequences. I just could help remembering the last few movies of the Harry Potter series and what their fighting scenes looked like. Take away the wands then you see no difference between both film's special effects. Oh yeah, and one of the swords looked like Cloud's sword from Final Fantasy…….. [INSERT ME LAUGHING HARD]

    Along With The Gods: Two Worlds has some bumps in it's road on the way to being a masterpiece. That doesn't damage all that the film has going for it though. The continuation was filmed along with this part as a whole film so maybe I will have a different opinion when that's released this summer.

Imperfect Girl(少女不十分) Volumes 1-3 Japanese Manga Thoughts

 

  Imperfect Girl( literal translation: Insufficient Girl) is a manga created from a mixed collaboration between Mitsuru Hattori and NisiOisin. Hattori drew the art of the series while NisiOisin created the storyboards. Not much is know about NisiOisin. I just know that this person has created a few works over the years that have made it into manga magazines in Japan. Imperfect girl spans about three volumes. A novel version was released before the manga in Japan.


   An author that remains nameless retells his story of an event that shaped him into being the author that he is today.

  Imperfect Girl might as well that great manga that you never knew that you needed in your life until you open up it's pages. The manga can be really easy to miss at your local bookstore as you stroll through the selections no matter what country your in. I have to consider this instance of my deciding to buy volume one of Imperfect girl brought on by a whim. I wasn't going to buy it because I'm not into Manga about children…. Well, There have been special occasions(I'm loving Sweetness & Lightning right now) so Imperfect Girl has just been added to the "special occasions" list. Imperfect girl takes a form of all the qualities that other mystery/thriller manga are completely forgetting to put in their stories: pure suspense. No more end of the word, zombie or Titan attacking human kinds of fiasco. Only simple bottomline suspense. What's even better about the suspense is that it's very simple. NisiOisin doesn't try to go leaps and bounds attempting to impress the reader with fancy tricks/cliffhangers to prolong the series. The story is what it is. Most of the manga is told from the view point of the young guy who is an inspiring author. Readers of Imperfect Girl are basically placed inside the main character's head from pretty early on in the series. When the conflict suddenly open hand slaps him full in the face, we as the readers are left a lot of the time with his thoughts. That my friend, can be one of the scariest things about the plot. You are scared of what the future holds for our character each hour that goes by. Then there's the girl who is the conflict of the story in herself. She has different sides to her character which also makes her a walking mystery too. Imperfect Girl is a quick page turner between all the questions that are created by the story itself. You will breeze through the three volumes unlike me, who had to wait for a new volume every two months.

  The art style took me back to the drawing style of early 2000s. Manga like Annie Freaks pops into my mind when I see the artwork in the panels. It's foundation isn't as carefully drawn like Annie Freaks was but there's things that I noticed about the art and I liked what I saw. Panels are created in dark ink that outline the action in each section. Art is drawn in a way to stress the horror that takes place for both characters. Some of this action includes marking up a psychological scene with straight lines going across the characters. Dark shading in of character's faces as well as settings can be seen also as maximum effect to spark emotion. The symbolism of the fish reminded me of Flowers of Evil. You don't get too many manga nowadays that use animals or plants as a symbol of a character's inner turmoil. Not to mention the color art for the back covers of the North America versions of each volume are VERY well done.

  Pick up a copy of Imperfect Girl if you're a fan of dark mystery manga. The story won't disappoint you. I was very satisfied with the ending and I would welcome a continuation to the series, or maybe a spin off.