January Favourites ’21

Guys it’s the first favourites post of 2021 and as I mentioned in the last favourites post of 2020, I’m going to make some changes.

The first change you will have noticed is my favourites post hasn’t been posted on 1st of the next month (aka February). Instead I have decided to post on the last Sunday of the month as it made more sense. I prefer to have my posts go up on once a week and on a weekend, with the occasionally post going up in the week.

Alongside that my favourites will not contain less beauty and more general/lifestyle items, which I started in the previous favourites post back in December (you can read my November Favourites ’20 here)I have decreased my five beauty items to just two now. I thought two was enough to talk about as sometimes I do discover new and older items that I always like to share with you all.

As well as that I will be trying to talk about more random favourites too, whether they be clothing, food, items I’ve purchased and more!

I hope you enjoy the changes I’ve started to bring to my blog. I just want to try and make it more geeky these days. 🙂

Beauty

• Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion.

I’ve been using this moisturising lotion on my hands throughout the days to help the dermatitis on my hand. My new steroid ointment from the doctor has actually helped my hand the most, but when I first started to use the Aveeno lotion it really did help. My hands would feel so soft in the morning when I woke up and it was almost as if they weren’t mine! This stuff is amazing though and is specifically for people with very dry skin like myself. This one I bought in particular is actually for all over the body, but I use on my hands mainly. I recommend so much if you have skin complaints like myself.

• Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Cinnamon Bear.

This is something I picked up in the sales just before Christmas and I’ve been wearing it on and off between Christmas Eve and now. I’ve never tried the Too Faced lip plumpers before and whilst I’m not arsed about my lips being huge it can be a bit different. Granted, this doesn’t plump my lips loads, but the colour itself is what I love the most. It’s a light red colour and really does give you a nice pop if you don’t want to wear lipstick but want SOME colour. Plus this will be great to apply over a lip tint for some gloss and that bit of plump. One thing I don’t like about this is the smell. It smells of cinnamon and quite frankly that doesn’t belong in ANY lip product.

So… Now it’s time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month! If there isn’t anything I’ve done I’m not going to mention. Aka reading – so favourite book won’t be mentioned and the same for music too. I haven’t listened to much different than usual this month.

Favourite TV Show – It’s a Sin.

If there is something I have been DYING to share with you this month it’s definitely It’s a Sin, Russell T Davies’ new drama on Channel 4/All 4. I am a massive fan of Davies work and whenever he has brought something new to Channel 4 I’ve watched it as soon as it’s live, this includes Cucumber and Banana. “It’s A Sin follows the story of the 1980s, the story of AIDS, and charts the joy and heartbreak of a group of friends across a decade in which everything changed.” Davies does a great job at writing realistic drama and It’s a Sin to me is his best work yet. This drama will make you smile, cry and feel heartbroken by the end of it. I watched it over a week ago and binge watched it in a whole day. I went to bed really early that evening as I was so mentally drained. We follow a group of friends who have all moved to London for similar reasons, whether it be to study, get away from family or for work. They all live together and all experience the same things, included AIDS. I don’t want to talk too much about this show because I don’t want to worry I spoil it for anyone. If anything it opens your eyes to how the gay community had to deal with AIDS as it came to UK. It reminded me of COVID a little. Give this show a watch, please and make sure to have a box of tissues handy because you’re going to need them. It’s free to watch on All 4 but be wary there will be adverts, but they’re worth it.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Saving Private Ryan.

I don’t know if this seems like a strange movie choice this month but I’ve chosen it because… It’s been out 23 years and I’ve never seen it… Everyone I’ve spoken to about it was very much surprised. 😛 Dane recently watched this one day whilst working from home and I only saw snippets due to working myself. However, towards the end of January we had an evening to cuddle and watch a movie. Dane decided to stick this on as I’d never watched it and it was amazing! The story is great (it also reminded me a little of 1917 with the plot) and the acting is AMAZING! To be honest, I find any film with Tom Hanks in is good and always worth a watch. The start of this film is brutal, but true. Throughout the film everything is just told and done really well. I know many will have seen this film, but I’m still going to refrain from sharing any spoilers in case. Since watching this film we’ve gone on a little bit of a war film binge. We’re not watching Band of Brothers, a TV series I’ve never watched. 😛

Favourite Game – Earth Defence Force 5.

Guys this is something else I was really excited to share with you all this month… Even though I’ve hardly played it since I started back at work after Christmas and New Year. This is a game Dane had heard about and thought about playing due to how bad but good it is! He showed me the trailer and said, “I think you’ll hate it…” but as bad as it looked, it looked and sounded comical and I was down for Dane buying it for us to play. This game is LONGGGG to play and from what I’ve seen on YouTube there are 11 hours of footage of people playing, that along is impressive. Me and Dane have spent all day playing this before and not even got through a big chunk of the game. Basically the aim of the game is to kill alien bugs that are attacking Earth. There are some weird frog looking things too, as well as a creatures that looks like Godzilla’s long lost cousins. This game isn’t amazing graphics wise but bloody hell it’s good fun with a group of people. The NPC’s random dialogue alone will have you laughing and telling them to shut the fuck up and stop being dramatic. 😛 I recommend it for sure!

Just a few of my favourite things

• Razer Kraken Quartz Gaming Headset.

This is by far one of my favourite purchases of January. I bought a Turtle Beach headset back in July but it broke on me last week which I was pissed off about. As I took off the headset after a phone call at work the left earphone literally snapped off! I reported the issue to Turtle Beach and they advised me to reach out to Amazon for a replacement. Amazon don’t stock the headset I bought anymore, so they gave me a refund, which was good! 😀 I bought my Kraken headset the day my Turtle Beach ones broke. In all honesty, I’d wanted to buy the pink Kraken’s back in July but couldn’t justify the price at the time as I didn’t quite know when I was going back to the office at work. These are AMAZING! Both for calls for work, as well as music and calls for D&D games and general games evenings via Discord. They’re not cheap, but I highly recommend them to be honest if you need or want to use a headset like this often!

• Ray-Ban Glasses.

I went to the opticians at the end of January and found out I need some new glasses due to a prescription change. I actually found out not only do I have an astigmatism but also that the prescription in my right lens is too high for me… I don’t know if this an issue on Boots part back in 2017 or Glasses Direct who I bought them from. Either way I don’t think I’ll go to Glasses Direct again just in case it was on their part. So, I decided to get myself some new Ray-Ban’s and I’ve gone for this opal brown pair and they’re gorgeous! They’re similar to what I have now but are a pinky brown colour. I’m really excited to go and pick them up next week! 😀 I’ll show them off to you when I get them over on my Instagram page (theremightbecoffeeblog).

• Black Milk Clothing x Animal Crossing K.K. Long Sleeve Oversized BFT (review here).

This is a t-shirt I have really enjoyed wearing in January. It’s such a comfortable and baggy t-shirt and it’s one I’ve worn often during working from home. I often wear it with leggings or joggers for super comfort! A lot of people have asked me what design is on the front, as well as on the sleeves. You can never go wrong with K.K. Slider!

• McDonalds Katsu Curry Chicken McNuggets.

In 2021 I have decided to only have a takeaway once a month. For January I was firm that our takeaway for the month would be McDonalds so that I could try the new katsu curry nuggets! I love katsu curry and I’m not going to lie, I have a soft spot for McNuggets too! These are REALLY good and the only way I can describe them is McNuggets but better! They’re crispier/crunchier and have a slight curry flavour to them. I have to say, I wish these were permanent. They’ll be gone next month around Valentine’s Day.

• Danboard Nendoroid.

This is the final item I’ll be talking about this month and it was one of my Christmas presents from Dane, a new Nendoroid and one I’ve been after for aggges! Danbo is from the manga Yotsuba&! – which I haven’t read but always heard things about. It’s by the same author as Azumanga Daioh – which is one of my favourite manga/anime series. I almost bought this Nendoroid whilst I was in Japan but left it. I finally got some batteries into Danbo as his eyes light up! We’re really “funny” with our Nendoroid figures and like to keep them in cabinets so they don’t get damaged or covered in dust, however so far Danbo has sat on our desk so that I have a “buddy” during the days in the week whilst I work and Dane has him during the evenings and weekends. I do really love him and he makes me smile to look at whilst working.

So there you have it guys, my favourites from January! This month really flew by and I’m kind of excited for February now. I have my new glasses to pick up soon, we’re making some changes around the house, new hobbies to play with and more. I’m also excited it’s a shorter month as with my new glasses AND an MOT tomorrow (keep fingers crossed for me that nothing is wrong!) I’m already skint. 😛

What have been some of your favourite things from January? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time guys, take care and see you soon!. 🙂

The Opposites Book Tag

Image taken from giphy.com

I don’t feel like I’ve done and taken part in a blog tag for a while now (not going to lie, it was probably just last month… :P) so when I came across The Opposites Book Tag on Eleanor’s blog a month ago I knew I’d do it at some point.

Fast forward a month later and here we are! She tagged anyone who read her post, which I’m linking here because you need to read her answers!

I’m changing my answers up a little though and instead of talking about “normal” books, I’ll be talking about manga instead… Considering manga is the majority of what I read. 😛

I hope you enjoy this tag post!

FIRST BOOK IN YOUR COLLECTION/LAST BOOK YOU BOUGHT.

The first manga I ever bought was Azumanga Daioh and it’s one of my biggest manga books in my collection… So far anyway. 😛 I loved the anime of the same name so when I heard about a manga of it too, I knew I had to find it! It took me ages and when I finally found it online I ordered it to be told a month later that it wasn’t actually in stock as they’d said. I got a refund and headed elsewhere in search of it. I found it on eBay in the end brand new and ended up buying it for less money than I was intending to pay for it in the first place.

My most recent purchase is Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life Vol. 2. I LOVE this spin off series even more than the original due to how adorable it is and yet how hilarious it is at other times. I’ll soon be buying some new manga… I feel like I buy it monthly in all honesty. 😛

A CHEAP BOOK/AN EXPENSIVE BOOK.

This stands for both of the same series but I’ve spent an absolute fortune on the Nana manga in the past! It’s not really published anymore I don’t think so it can be such a hard manga to get hold of! It’s so worth it though as I think the Nana manga will be worth some serious monies in the future due to it being on a hiatus. ANYWAY I’ve spent next to sod all on many copies of this manga and other times I’ve paid through the teeth just to get a decent copy or even a brand new one.

Aside from Nana the most I have spent on manga for myself is £15.99, which I spent on the manga of Wolf Children. I regret spending that much on it, but 1. it’s hardback and 2. I picked it up in Waterstones… Of course it was expensive! 😛

A BOOK WITH A MALE PROTAGONIST/ONE WITH A FEMALE PROTAGONIST.

First of all, male protagonist! The first one that pops into my head is Hideo Suzuki from the manga, I Am a Hero. This manga is amazing and it’s thanks to Dane discovering it in Forbidden Planet that we started reading it together. He’s such a fanny at the best of times, but this is due to what appears to be a form of anxiety. He’s our hero during a zombie apocalypse in Japan and he’s such a great and real protagonist for that story. I cannot wait to see where the series goes and what the future has in store for him.

So a female protagonist eh? Oh man I could pick so many manga series with a legend of a female protagonist but I think the first one I can think of is Nana Osaki, from the manga of the same name. She’s the Nana who is a singer in a rock band and doesn’t stand for shit! Although she’s rock hard on the outside and appears untouchable, she actually has a heart of gold and is mending a broken heart throughout most of the manga. I remember when watching the anime, as well as reading the manga what a strong and bold woman she is, even though she isn’t real. I wanted to be like her as I got older and I like to think I am. 😛

A BOOK YOU READ FAST/ONE THAT TOOK YOU LONG TO READ.

If there is a series I found myself whizzing through and finishing quicker than any manga series I own to date, it’s A Silent Voice. I remember hearing about the manga thanks to the anime that came out as a film last year. I picked up a couple of volumes to read to see if I would enjoy it and I instantly fell in love. Even before me and Dane went to watch the anime I went into my local manga/comic book store and bought some more volumes! Later I bought the rest on Amazon PRIME so I could read them as soon as possible. To this day it is now one of my favourite manga series and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to get into manga and see why it’s so amazing.

Fuck me, if there is one manga series that is taking me forever to get through, it’s definitely K-ON! and I honestly couldn’t tell you why. I think it’s because I enjoy reading it so much that I take my time to read it. I’m on my second to last volume now and I’ll be sad when I’ve finished the K-ON! series. This just means I need to find a NEW SERIES to get into. 😛

PRETTY COVER/UGLY COVER.

I don’t think I really own any pretty manga covers… If anything I love Nana for the story each volume tells about the two Nana’s and the same can go for A Silent Voice which shows off the two main characters together. I also really love A Polar Bear In Love for the adorable covers that their volumes produce! I cannot wait for Volume 3 to come out now as the cover for that looks amazing.

I can’t say I own any ugly covers though… If there are some manga covers I dislike it’s Dane’s Berserk series, as well as some of the Junji Ito covers which aren’t ugly, just very creepy. 😛

A NATIONAL BOOK/AN INTERNATIONAL BOOK.

HA they’re all pretty international when you think about it! 😛

No I joke. All my manga books are in English! Although once I nearly ordered Elfen Lied on Amazon, only to discover they were all in German. I dodged a very heavy and expensive burden there. 😛

A THIN BOOK/A THICK BOOK.

I don’t really own any thin manga… Some of my thicker books are Wolf Children and Azumanga Daioh.

FICTION BOOK/NON-FICTION BOOK.

They’re all fiction really.

VERY (WAY TOO) ROMANTIC BOOK/ACTION BOOK.

Oh man, the majority of my manga is romance related as that’s just what I’m into. I have read action style manga though before, don’t get me wrong! Those are usually ones that Dane has bought and told me to check out. I do like a bit of action in manga, but I’m a total romance girl. 😛

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY/ONE THAT MADE YOU SAD.

There are so many manga series that make me happy! K-ON!, Azumanga Daioh, Nichijou, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and more, but if there is one that really cheers me up to read lately, it’s A Polar Bear In Love.

A Polar Bear In Love is about a polar bear who is in love with a baby seal. The story is about them exploring where they live together and learning more each day about one another, as well as about things around them. I remember reading volume 1 and wondering what the hell was happening, but it’s such a cute story and the artwork is also adorable. Give it a read if you love cute and yet weird manga. 😛

I feel like I’ve spoken about it so much on this post, but both Nana and A Silent Voice broke my heart. Nana is for many reasons, with the biggest of course being the story but also because it isn’t finished! The writer/artist of Nana has health issues and due to that she had to hiatus Nana. I need to know what happens and how it finishes for all the characters. 😦

A Silent Voice is just depressing for many different reasons and what makes it even more depressing? It’s so realistic that I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of stuff that happens in the manga, doesn’t happen on a daily basis to both children and teenagers. It’s about a deaf girl who is bullied by her classmate. She leaves due to the bullying, which results in the classmate being bullied himself for many years after. He learns sign language and goes to meet her to apologise before he attempts suicide… Which doesn’t happen thankfully! That’s all I’m saying! 😛 It has a lovely ending to it however and in itself, that makes me happy.

So those are the answers to the The Opposites Book Tag! I hope my answers aren’t boring due to me changing them to adapt to manga, but as I said before… I don’t read anything else other than manga these days…

Like Eleanor did, anyone who reads this tag post, I CHOOSE YOU TO TAKE PART TOO! 😀

Will you be giving the tag a go? If so let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re ready for the weekend.

His N Her Manga Collection and Q&A

As regular readers will know, me and Dane are both massive fans of manga and our love of it is only growing more as we start and end another manga series.

I was writing and aiming for this post to be up on my blog around World Book Day but sadly due to life and how busy it can be, I never got around to finishing and publishing it on my blog.

BUT no time like the present and I’ve accumulated more manga since World Book Day which is amazing of course! I of course have included Dane into my manga collection as with both of our books combined we have a great collection so far. I also did some questions for both me and Dane to answer in relation to manga. So it’s kind of like a his and her manga post today! I hope you enjoy it.

Manga We Own

Dane:

Attack on Titan – Vol. 1-20

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall – Vol. 1-5

Attack on Titan: No Regrets – Vol. 1 and 2

Berserk – Vol. 1-6

Death Note – Vol. 1-6

One Punch Man – Vol. 1-10

Natalee:

Azumanga Daioh

Nana – Vol. 1-21

Nichijou – Vol. 1 and 2

Paradise Kiss – Vol. 1-3

A Silent Voice – Vol. 1-7

Sword Art Online: Progressive – Vol. 1-4

Wolf Children

Your Lie in April – Vol. 1-11

Manga We Want:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall – Vol. 6

Attack on Titan: Lost Girls – Vol. 1 and 2

Berserk – Vol. 7-38

Masamune-kun’s Revenge – Vol. 1-3

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – Vol. 1 and 2

Nichijou – Vol. 3-6

One Punch Man – Vol. 11

Sherlock: A Study in Pink

Sword Art Online: Progressive – Vol. 5

Dane Questions & Answers:

• What was the first manga you read?

Admittedly I have gotten into manga much later than I could or should have. My first manga was (is) actually Attack on Titan. After watching countless anime I watched the first season of Attack on Titan and couldn’t wait for the next season so I began reading the manga.

• What is your favourite manga to date and why?

Easily Berserk. I have seen and heard about it in the past but always thought it was a manga that was “edgy” for the sake of being edgy. Granted the first arc of the manga does show Guts to be an edgelord (someone, especially posting on the internet who uses shocking annalistic speech and opinions that they themselves may or may not believe to gain attention and come across as a more dangerous and unique person) but he is kept likeable and grows over the course of the manga.

The world of Berserk is a dark one, the manga is very explicit in this and does not shy away from some truly WTF moments. It is not for everyone. It begins with Guts getting freaky with a crazy demon only to kill it mid coitus which is a great way to show what is in store for you. This is one of its greatest assets the fact it is not afraid of going balls to the wall with its story, there are some truly great characters and events that will make you smile and sometimes you will be cutting onions outside in the rain whilst miraculously keeping the book and everywhere but your face dry.

One of the other assets that make this manga worth people’s time is the superior artwork that goes into it. Kentaro Miura is a master when it comes to bringing his panels to life, the character design and the detail (particular the full spreads) are just sublime and you have to see them to believe. Every artist has their moments where some things don’t look quite right but Miura can be excused when he does things like this:

Seriously, anyone should give this article (http://www.exprofundis.com/the-art-of-berserk/) a read because it helps break down the inspiration behind some of the art and showcase some of the best images.

The manga was not my first experience of Berserk. I had tried to watch the anime on a few occasions but never got into it. I have always found it difficult to watch most 90s anime because it doesn’t always gel with me. After giving the 90s season another go I surprised myself when I had a thirst for more, so, like I did with Attack on Titan I began reading the manga. I also heard about the three films which cover the golden age arc, which is the same arc as the 90s series. To me the CGI in those films works really well and I enjoyed those adaptations the most and really makes you wish they carried on making more. The problem is neither really follow the manga chronologically, the 90s anime has a few minutes of the black swordsman arc to go into the golden age arc and obviously the films skip the whole first chapter. So what you are left with is no true adaptation of a brilliant manga.

This then leads me on to why you should stick with the manga for the time being: The 2016 Berserk anime series. Since the first season has finished airing it has been greenlit for a second season. It was amazing to hear that we would finally get to see the full story of Guts in animated form. Only to be disappointed with a horribly directed and crudely animated shit show. The story was mostly there, even some moments which fans expected to be censored or cut (If you dare Google rape horse). I won’t go into too much of a critique but it had some good moments but was overshadowed by some really bad moments. It showed promise and I hope that the studio receive more time and money to give Berserk what it deserves.

• Any online websites or phone apps you suggest for reading manga on?

If you really can’t get the physical books to read I would recommend the manga rock app. It’s free, has decent scans and is what I used to read Berserk and some works by Junji Ito.

• What is a manga you regret reading and why?

I don’t really regret reading any not in that regards. I have looked at some and thought “nah I can’t be arsed with that” but never have I spent the time to read one and thought why did I bother.

To answer the question in a different manner I would say I regret reading some of the short stories Junji Ito has created. They leave you with a sense of uneasiness I haven’t felt from a book before. He is the master of the full spread shock and horror. The stories are some of the most unique I have experienced too, the creativity astounds me and leave you eerily excited to know the outcome but you are always left with a gaping hole because horror stories hardly ever end well.

• What is a manga you can read over and over again and why?

All the manga I am currently or have read is still in production so the stories are incomplete. I have Death Note but that is on my to-do list. So the only manga I can legitimately say is Berserk as I am currently on my second run after finally purchasing the physical copies.

• What is a manga you would suggest people read when first getting into it?

Attack on Titan was a very easy manga for me to get into, it has a decent story and is mature enough to keep me entertained. It is also one that lacks the typical tropes I have found with Japanese media; the fan service, unnecessary cute characters, sweat drop and so on. I don’t mind those things generally but sometimes I feel they remove you from the immersion in a story and western viewers may not appreciate too much of it.

• Is there a manga you think is overrated?

I cannot allow myself to say a manga is overrated because I have not experienced enough to judge. Although I will bash something in my own time I would feel unfair to claim something I have little exposure to. Especially as I can understand liking something that the general public would see as weird or too nerdy just because it’s different.

• Is there a manga you think is underrated?

Anyone who has read Berserk I hope will understand why people like it, even if they don’t themselves. I don’t think there are any that I have seen which don’t have a cult following or a new anime adaptation due out.

• Would you read any of the manga Natalee owns? If so which one(s)?

I would definitely give Your Lie in April and Nichijou a read as I have already taken a quick look and they have peaked my interest. Nana and Paradise Kiss aren’t really my thing, both are most likely brilliant in their own right (the anime for Paradise Kiss kept me interested enough) but it’s just not my thing.

• What’s a manga you love but hate the anime of?

Berserk, as mentioned above. Hate is a strong word for it though.

• What is the next manga you wish to buy and read?

I am currently purchasing as many Berserk manga as possible but it doesn’t really count as one I am due to read as I already have caught up to the latest chapter.

I haven’t really thought that far ahead to be honest so I genuinely don’t know.

Natalee Questions & Answers:

• What was the first manga you read?

The first manga I read was Elfen Lied. I had wanted to read manga for years but I never knew which one TO read. After watching the anime over a handful of times I knew it was time to find the manga to read. Physical copies are hard to come by in Japanese and I don’t think they’re available in English so I resorted to reading it online.

• What is your favourite manga to date and why?

This is a hard one because I love all the manga I have completely finished so far. I honestly can’t answer this question with one manga to be honest. I would like to say A Silent Voice as the story is so realistic and one that has really pulled on my heartstrings. It left me thinking too which I loved. This being said I also loved Elfen Lied and Nana, although Nana isn’t officially finished yet.

• Any online websites or phone apps you suggest for reading manga on?

I have used a phone app in the past but I can’t remember what it was called. I hated it. It wasn’t the app itself but just the way I felt about it. I can’t remember the website I used when I read Elfen Lied. I just Google’d it to be honest when I wanted to read it.

• What is a manga you regret reading and why?

I don’t think there’s a manga I regret reading to be honest with you. I usually check out the anime before reading the manga so I’ll always know if I’ll like the storyline or not. I don’t regret reading it because I haven’t bought it, but I do want to get Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid but the artwork doesn’t look as nice as the anime does… I could see myself regretting buying that one for example.

• What is a manga you can read over and over again and why?

Definitely Elfen Lied as I love the story. I especially love how different it was to the anime.

• What is a manga you would suggest people read when first getting into it?

Something light and quirky is always a good choice. Azumanga Daioh is one of the first I read and it’s an easy one to read and very funny! I suppose any anime you have watched and fallen in love with you should read the manga because the chances are you’ll love that more!

• Is there a manga you think is overrated?

From what I’ve seen it’s definitely got to be One Piece. I haven’t read it and I don’t even know what it’s about but fuck it takes up most of the manga books in shops such as Nostalgia Comics in Birmingham and Forbidden Planet’s all over the country. I’m sure it’s amazing and all but there’s just so many volumes! Same goes to Naruto as well.

• Is there a manga you think is underrated?

I want to say anything by Ai Yazawa but this being said I don’t think she’s underrated. Paradise Kiss is a classic alongside Nana, which isn’t even finished yet and very much sought after these days by Ai Yazawa fans alike. I’m saying it’s underrated because of how long the hiatus of Nana has been now. People have probably given up now on ever knowing what happens in the end. I however have a little bit of faith left in me. I hope we find out sooner rather than later what happens.

• Would you read any of the manga Dane owns? If so which one(s)?

I don’t know to be honest… I’d love to read Attack on Titan and One Punch Man but I would worry they’d involve too much action for my liking. Surprisingly I love this in Sword Art Online: Progressive but I don’t think I would like it in Attack on Titan and One Punch Man. This being said I love the anime of both of these, especially the action behind them!

• What’s a manga you love but hate the anime of?

I recently started watching the anime of Paradise Kiss to coincide with me reading the manga and so far I’m preferring the manga a hell of a lot more! I just find that there are huge chunks missing from the anime which sucks! The same can definitely be said for Elfen Lied too, which leaves the ending in the anime in a really poor manner. There is so much more to the story than the anime lets on which is extremely frustrating. I definitely recommend reading the manga if you love the show. It’s shit loads better!

• What is the next manga you wish to buy and read?

I don’t want to buy it because I wouldn’t be able to read it BUT I really want to print off all the Elfen Lied manga and pop them into a folder so I can physically read them. I would want to do the same for other manga that isn’t available in English.

Besides that I want to try and have a look at Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid before reading to see if I’ll like it and Masamune-kun’s Revenge as I recently started watching the anime which I’m really enjoying. I can see the manga being just as good to be honest.

So that is our lonnnng manga post! Do you like reading manga, or have you just started reading manga? Make sure to let us know which series you’re reading or have read! We’d love to hear from you all.

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

A-Z: Get To Know Me!

I recently found a post of the same title by Be over at Love From Be (link) and I just loved the post so much. It was just a nice and different way of getting to know the blogger you enjoy reading, or have just discovered. So I thought I would give it a go myself! Make sure to go and check out Be’s blog, as she’s so lovely and down to Earth.

Anime – I love anime so much, it’s something I have enjoyed watching from a young age, and the older I’ve got the more anime shows I have found myself watching. Some of my favourites are Elfen Lied, Nana, Azumanga Daioh, Himouto! Umaru-Chan, Sword Art Online, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Blogging – I didn’t want to have to use this as the letter B, but I really couldn’t think of anything else! I love my blog. It’s my number one hobby, and something I would love to turn into my job in the future. I’ve been running my blog for four years now, and I continue to carry on with it for as long as possible.

Coffee – Well, the title of my blog does have the word coffee in it! I do really like coffee, so much so I worked in Costa Coffee for nearly three years. That is probably the first time I’ve admitted to working in Costa on my blog. 😛 My favourite coffee is vanilla flat white. I love my coffee strong! 😛

Dirty Sanchez – One of my favourite shows has to be this. I love not only that the guys are from the UK, but I also love how they do some worse off stuff than what Jackass have ever done. I’m sad that they aren’t still around, but I’ll always think of Dirty Sanchez as one of the shows I grew up watching and loving.

Evanescence – My favourite band for over ten years now. I fell in love with them when I first heard “Bring Me To Life” on KERRANG! Radio. I ended up buying their first album Fallen and listening to it none stop. I still have that album to this day! I have seen them live twice, and hope to go again in the future. I’ve also met all the band mates (apart from Amy!) from the Evanescence album days. My favourite song is “Imaginary”.

Fuerteventura – This place is legit my second home. I’ve been going there since the age of 5 and I love it. I didn’t go for 10 years and it broke my heart, I forgot how much I loved it and how amazing it was there. I really want to live there one day… But we shall see. I would want to work in a cocktail bar, or hell even run my own on the beach! 😛

Gaming – I’m a gamer. Not a hardcore one, but I still love to play my games! I’m also a console collector too, and I currently own 7 consoles (Nintendo SNES and GameCube, Playstation, PS2, PS3, and PS4, and an Xbox 360), as well as my handheld collection of the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS Lite, and my Nintendo 2DS. Go me! But I love playing games. Currently obsessed with the LEGO games. I can’t wait for the Star Wars one to come out.

Hyper Japan – I went to my first Hyper Japan convention last summer in London and I loved it so damn much! It wasn’t as good as I was hoping it was going to be, but I still enjoyed myself. I really hope that me and Dane can attend the winter one this year, seeing as we went to the summer one last year.

iPhone – I own an iPhone 6 and I love it to bits! It’s by far the best phone I have owned to date, and I just love it. It feels nice to hold, is great to look at, and to be honest my new phone case just makes me happy. I only got it in the post yesterday when I got home from work and it’s just so adorable. Who can say no to a sleeping Mew, huh?

Jackass – Another one of my favourite shows. I grew up watching this too funnily enough! I would skip school to stay at home eating toast and watching TV shows on MTV. Or I would stay awake all night watching them on Viva. God those were the days! I was gutted when Ryan Dunn died too by the way. It really hit home as he was my favourite one on the show. I’m sad that this has also come to an end, but I love Bad Grandpa, it’s amazing!

Kawaii – A Japanese word for cute. I love cute things and often say kawaii about them to try and be cute myself. It rarely works and I end up looking like a complete loser. 😛

Lipstick – This is really the only makeup I wear, and I’m pretty damn proud of that! I love lipstick, and I’ve recently started to get braver in wearing darker lip shades than I already wear. I love liquid lipsticks the most right now. My favourite brand being Jeffree Star Cosmetics. I also love my MAC lipsticks too, my favourite shade will always be Rebel. I love wearing reds, dark pinks, and purples. Can never get enough of them!

Manga – I love reading manga. I started to read it back in 2011 when I finish university and had time on my hands. I started with Elfen Lied, then moved onto Azumanga Daioh, and Nana. I currently have some Nana to finish reading and then I’ll be moving onto the Sword Art Online series. I need to read the Attack On Titan manga too… But I only have enough time on my hands for one thing at a time.

Nendoroid – These are the awesome figures that me and Dane collect, and we really do love them! We have a nice little collection going at the mostly, which are mostly Dane’s. I only have 3 at the moment whilst he has (from memory) 10 figures… My collection is really lame in comparison! Good Smile recently announced they were creating a Deadpool Nendoroid, so me and Dane are really excited for him!

Ocean – I love the ocean. I love how beautiful it looks and sounds with the colours, and the crashing and gentle swishing noises. I finally got to swim in the sea/ocean on my holiday last January with Dane and I loved it so damn much! I can’t wait to do that again someday.

Image taken from We Heart It

Pokemon – Since the age of 6 I have loved Pokemon, and that love is still just as strong now 10 years later. I still play the games, lust after the cute plushies (as you’ll have seen from my recent wish list post here), and get excited when any new news comes out to do with the franchise. I don’t care if I’m a 26-year-old woman, I love Pokemon! 😛

Queens Of The Stone Age – One of my other favourite bands, and one I really want to see soon! I have always ended up not going to see them live due to having no money, no one to go with, or them playing too far away from home. When they tour again however I won’t let the chance slip away!

Red – Not my  favourite colour (that’s purple) but it’s my colour of choice clothing wise! I love the colour red and how bold, and sexy it looks. It also suits me due to my warm yellow skin tone, as well as my brown hair and eyes. I’m after a gorgeous red rain coat at the moment, but alas I haven’t found much.

Studio Ghibli – This is my Disney. You know everyone loves Disney movies? Well I love Studio Ghibli movies. Me and my boyfriend between us have pretty much all of the films on DVD and whenever a new one comes out we try to go and watch it at the cinema. My favourite is Spirited Away, it always has been and I’m pretty sure it always will be. I do rather like Grave of The Fireflies, even though it’s a really sad film.

Teachers – Another TV show I grew up watching! This used to be on Channel 4 back in the day when I was still at school myself! It always made me want to be a teacher deep down due to how much fun all the teachers had both in and outside of school. Alas that hasn’t happened… My favourite season is probably season 2, but I love them all!

Image taken from We Heart It

Umaru – I am legit Umaru… Constantly hermitting away in my room playing games, eating crap, reading manga, and lusting after things I can’t afford to buy. I’m not cute like her though… Just a very sad 16-year-old stuck inside someone 10 years older than herself… Oh dear. 😛

Vitamin D – This is an odd one, but I actually recently found out I have a vitamin D deficiency… Which of course sucks but I’m currently on medication to help it. The little pills I get are tiny blue ones, which remind me of The Matrix. 😛

Writing – I love to write. I do it for my blog, I write books and stories in my spare time, and I even studied critical and creative writing for my masters degree (as well as for my BA too…). So it is safe to say I love writing. 😛 Need I say more than that???

X (I apologise but I couldn’t think of anything with this letter…)

Yankee Candle – I love these candles! They’re my candle of choice whenever I go to buy any new ones, so I’m always burning them at home. I currently have Christmas Eve burning at the moment as I’m trying to use up all my  tea lights and votives. 🙂

Z (I apologise but I couldn’t think of anything with this letter…)

Image taken from We Heart It

So that was my A-Z about me! Thanks again to Be for posting about this, as if she hadn’t I might not have gotten the chance to have a go at it myself. I also apologise if any of my answers were lame… 😛

Will you be having a go at talking about yourself through an A-Z post? Make sure to let me know if you do so I can read yours!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far.

Japanese Series: Manga

Welcome to the first post in my Japanese Series!

I decided in January that I would create this series because of how much I love Japan and really want to go. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to learn Japanese, as well as that I read manga daily and I also watch some Canadian YouTuber’s who are living and studying in Japan, whilst documenting all sorts of things to do in Japan if you live there, or are just visiting.

Either way there will be 4 of these posts in this series, one every Wednesday during February and I for one am super excited about this series! I had been thinking about it throughout December, but only decided on getting on with ideas for the series in mid January.

So without further ado, shall I get on with the first post of this series? I think I shall!

As you can see from the above image, I own quite a lot of manga books so far, eight in total, seven from one manga series and one from another.

This huge manga book contains ALL four of the original manga books of the very popular series, Azumanga Daioh. I actually found out about this manga existing through the anime, which I began watching in 2011 whilst I was still at university. I fell in love with it and found myself watching it a lot during my last months of university.

Eventually when I’d watched the anime I was after a manga version to read and I searched everywhere for nearly 2 years for it, eventually finding it on Forbidden Planet to buy! However when I  ordered it, after 2 weeks of waiting they informed me that infact they didn’t have this in stock and that I would receive a full refund. A mixture of annoyed and upset I looked elsewhere and I finally found this on Amazon to purchase. At nearly £14 it wasn’t cheap, but I tell you this is a massive book and if you hit someone over the head with this very hard, you could probably knock them out!

As of yet I haven’t actually finished reading this manga and I have less than half of it left to read. I think after I’ve finished some of my manga at the moment, I’ll finish reading this book.

To let you know the basic plot of Azumanga Daioh it’s about a group of Japanese girls who are in the same class as each other at high-school and you get to see all sorts of things they get to both in and out of school during their three years there.

The manga has some comical and quirky moments in that had me laughing out loud when I used to read this manga last year and due to it I often got some weird looks. Each character in the manga has her own personality and it’s quite comical to see what each character comes out with when it comes to a situation.

The manga itself is like most manga books, in a standard black and white where you read the book from right to left… So backwards! As well as black and white pages, there are some coloured pages inside this copy of Azumanga Daioh which I really like! I haven’t yet got to these pages, reading wise but I thought I would take a picture of them to share with you anyway!

Out of all the characters in Azumanga Daioh, Sakaki is by far my favourite. She’s extremely shy but is loved and admired by most of the girls in the school due to being tall, having long hair and big boobs. She doesn’t really like the attention that these things about her give towards her and she just likes being quiet. She also loves anything cute and longs for her own pet cat. She’s an adorable character and that’s why I love her so much.

Although I do not own any physical copies of Elfen Lied, it is infact the first manga I read, as well as the first one I finished. I fell in love with anime and manga thanks to Elfen Lied and although I can’t show you the manga itself, I will show you images from the internet, as I can’t NOT talk about this manga!

To clear up why I don’t own any physical copies of the manga… They’re very hard to find and the only copies I have ever been able to find on eBay have been Japanese and cost over £10 EACH! They’re not cheap and they’re certainly not easy to find but if and when I visit Japan, I’m going to see if I can find all of the Elfen Lied manga books to bring home with me!

So I was naughty and I read Elfen Lied on a manga reader website, which was very helpful seeing as I couldn’t get my hands on any physical copies.

Like all the manga books I’ve read or that I’m currently reading, I have always found about the manga versions through an anime and likewise, this happened with Elfen Lied. It’s rather odd how I discovered the anime, but that will be spoken of in another post in this series.

I loved the anime so much that when I found out it was based off of a manga and that the manga revealed more about the story than the anime every did, I KNEW I had to read it and whilst I was out of work after university, I spent most of my time reading the manga online.

If you have watched the anime, definitely read the manga as it’s amazing!

Image taken from weheartit.com

With Elfen Lied it is a very gorey manga and anime and not for the faint of heart, but this being said the storyline for this is amazing and as a writer is has inspired me with a lot of my own work, especially the first novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo.

Elfen Lied is about a new race of human, Diclonius. They look like humans and even talk like humans but they’re born with invisible arms called vectors and a pair of short horns sticking out of their heads. In the show all the Diclonius are girls and are all born with pink hair. Lucy is the main character of Elfen Lied and after escaping a prison she was being kept in she forms a childlike personality, Nyu. She is found on a beach by Kohta and Yuka and it’s from that moment that things start to go wrong and you find out more about the Diclonius race, as well as about Lucy’s past.

The manga and the anime are both amazing and if you don’t mind some graphic scenes involving a lot of blood and murder then I recommend you to go and read or watch either of them!

Cool fact about Lucy/Nyu, I dressed up as them both back in Halloween 2010, which was a lot of fun! Everyone at the university night I attended thought I was Lady Gaga, which pissed me off something crazy. I hope to attend a cosplay in the near future as Lucy/Nyu.

Now the final manga I will be talking about is Nana, which is also the manga I am currently reading.

Once again I discovered this manga through the anime, but this being said I heard about them both from Michelle Phan on YouTube when she filmed and posted a make up tutorial video on Nana Osaki. I’m going to link it on here for you to watch, as it’s a pretty awesome tutorial!

I love Nana and although I love Elfen Lied as it was the first manga I got into, read and finished, I’m growing to love Nana that little bit more. Nana is a drama and very much love themed.

The story is about two Nana’s who meet each other on a train to Tokyo. Nana Osaki is a punk rocker, moving to Tokyo to continue to her punk rock music career and Nana Komatsu wears her heart on her sleeve and is moving to Tokyo to be more independent and be closer to her boyfriend and her best friend.

Although the two Nana’s are completely different, they are in ways similar and after losing each other after their train journey, they meet up once more whilst trying to find a flat to move into, which in turn was the same flat.

The manga is 22 volumes long and I’m currently on volume 6. I love the way the cover of each volume for Nana tells a story of the two girls, are you’ll see from the image above. So far from volume 3-7 you can see how both the Nana’s go out of their flat to go to the beach, to a cafe, on a train, and then you can see them using a train guide maybe in a train station. I just like the theme and mini story it tells, as I think it looks really nice.

The artwork for Nana is beautiful and some of the most lovely manga drawings I’ve ever seen, so when it comes to reading Nana, although I know most of what happens due to watching the anime, it’s a joy to see the gorgeous pictures. I wish I could draw like this!

So out of all the manga I’ve read, I’ve only read/currently reading these three manga books/series. I know that isn’t a lot to write home about, but in manga quite  often there will be a lot of volumes to get through and as I’m on a spending ban, I’m being good and only buying 3 Nana books a month to read.

Forbidden Planet have an amazing deal of 3 for 2 on their manga so I always go in there for my Nana books now, so it only costs me £13.98 for 3 volumes! DEAL! I said to myself that whilst I’m on my spending ban, I can’t NOT read Nana, so I ensure to treat myself once a month, which I didn’t do during January, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying 3 more volumes during this month.

Do you like manga? If so which series have you read so far or which ones would you like to read or currently reading?

If you aren’t a fan of manga? How come? Hey! You might not have even heard of manga before until this post! Does it interest you at all since reading this?

Please leave any answers to the following questions or if you have any questions of your own, leave them all down in the comments down below!

I hope you enjoy this series! Next week I’ll be talking about anime!

In true Japanese style…

Jikai made, subete no sewa o suru! >>> Until next time, take care all!