from shoujo to josei.

well hasn't it been a few post of manga and anime. and i must say that it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

If I have to choose what manga genre attracts me to read, I will have to choose action romance. action cause 'only in anime' you can have all those fancy attacks and adventures in a myriad of realms (more than just new zealand landscapes - move over narnia and lotr. even gaiman doesn't compare.), romance cause deep down inside every lady is a shoujo fanatic.

but after reading shoujo after shoujo (which involves mainly high school girls), one can pretty much predict every subsequent scene. it gets frustrating sometimes, especially the pace. and the setting is kinda getting too young for me - imaging scoffing at some scenes going 'really, how will end up well in real life' while secretly hoping them to overrule your doubts. Cynicism comes with age, so it is about time to head over to josei.

And josei definitely touches on the cynicism which we face. single women getting older, more or less giving up pursuing marriage, work-oriented, and often than not, wondering how to take the next step to work out this monotonous pace of life.

the first josei i read was "Kimi wa Petto", translated to "Tramps Like Us". about a high achieving lady tired of pursuing romance for purity's sake of it, since that way never worked out with her. With no suitors willing to challenge her and fed up with the masculine-oriented work society, she decided to 'adopt' a younger man whom she found on the streets and kept him as her pet. nothing raunchy going on, she treated him like how everyone treats their pet animals - giving him a name, providing the necessary food and clothing and a room to sleep. In return, she talks to him about her troubles and daily events, in which he gives his opinions to. doesnt help much when she finally got herself into a relationship and tried every means to conceal the fact that she has a young man as a pet in the house.

still, the ending did not end up in my favour, but nonetheless a satisfying conclusion. and it won the prestigious best female comic in the early 2000s

and now my current read is "Ane to Kekkon" - "My Sister and Marriage". About a 40yr old single lady contented with spending her quiet life working as a librarian, until and old class mate bumped into her and declared that he love her. This class mate was a quiet-bullied-teen-turned-successful-suave doctor, and a married one even. Married to the daughter of a hospital director, and so happens to looks exactly like our female protagonist. Drama no? You have a reluctant female protagonist who is being relentlessly chased by a doctor who claimed he married because his wife resembled his first love (hence she means nothing to him). Not to mention his wife was not in love with him either, and has an extra-marital affair which he is aware of (but turns a blind eye to it). Solution? Our female protagonist proposed to have their own extra-marital affair, albeit a physcial one only so as not to get too emotionally attached and get her hurt. Our doctor though, is keen on a real relationship. Both have their share of sadness and complications, which makes it so addicting to read. gives me the fuzzy feeling.

only damn thing now is that online scanlations only went as far as chapter 3, while chinese scans hit chapt 15... and stalled for a good couple of months. Adding salt to injury will be that taiwan publishers only managed to churn out book 2 (12 chapters in total), and here in my country, we only have book 1 available now. the author has churn out 4 books so far. URGH.