Figurines, Figurines, and more Figurines…

I wish someone would translate this…

I’ve been busy these days with work and school, so I haven’t had much time to blog, plus I’ve been sick for the past few days, which has only made things worse. Luckily I feel much better, and decided to review a figurine to celebrate. I did happen to get a digital camera, so the picture quality will be substantially better, although not by much since I am still getting used to it.

I bought a good deal of figurines over the past 2 months, and here is a brief rundown of them.

Winter 2009: Anticipation

Upcoming shows! Will update first impressions later!

Fall 2008 in full swing: The final rundown

The final chart of shows that are currently airing in the Fall season.

Unbalance x Unbalance: ecchi romance done right

Hae-Young Na, the lovely female lead sweeps us off our feet.

Unbalance x Unbalance (언밸런스x2) is a romance manhwa (South Korean comic) by Dal-Young Lim (author) and Soo-Hyon Lee (artist).

The plot of the manhwa is quite simple, and isn’t at all original:

Jin-Ho returns a wallet and cell phone to a beautiful young woman (Hae-Young Na) in a book shop, little realizing that she would find out that he has already (rather presumptuously) taken 7000 won to buy a book he really wanted. The woman in question is understandably rather upset but decides to consider the money as a loan, which she expects to be paid back. On the first day of the new school year he learns, to his horror, that the very same woman is to be his new homeroom teacher.

As it stands, Unbalance X2 doesn’t offer anything new or refreshing in terms of plot, or premise. It’s your typical set-up, and all things point to a “by the books” story. What Unbalance X2 fails to do in originality, it makes up for in execution and creativity. It’s like Dal-Young Lim decided he was going to write the most cliché stereotypical romance story, but in doing so, he would write it with more substance, style, and quality than any other rom/com before it. Lim takes the classical romance story, and executes it flawlessly, creating an entertaining, and emotionally gripping tale. A masterpiece it isn’t, but it’s a wonderfully crafted narrative, and succeeds in many areas where other manga’s of its kind have failed. Having read up to the most recent chapter, I can confidently say it is a worthwhile read for anyone who enjoys the genre. The characters are colorful, bright, and fleshed out. The art is original, and beautifully done. The plot takes unexpected twists turns, and has a moving story line. Lim took the past failures of its predecessors and upped the ante on this one. Check it out, it won’t disappoint.

In other news, I’ve been quite busy with work, exams, and some unexpected events for the past few weeks.It’s nothing tragic, but a lot of things have come up relating to school, and things of that nature. I still manage to find some time to blog though, so no worries.