Last Quarter (Manga)

Aka: Kagen no Tsuki
Writer: Yazawa Ai
Original Run: 1998/1999
Language: English
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Supernatural
Volumes: 3

Synopsis:
Mizuki Mochizuki is a high school student that one day meets a man by the name Adam. In the two weeks they are together, she falls in love with him, and the day he is to leave, she decides to follow him. Bringing her passport and a bag, she crosses one of Shibuya's many streets, on a red light, to follow after him. Only, when her ex-boyfriend calls out her name, she turns around, in the middle of the street, to see him running after her. While standing there, she is hit by a car.Some time later, a girl named Hotaru, who has lost her cat, mistakes a stray as her own. The cat wanders into an abandoned home, and she squeezes through the bars to follow after the cat. When realizing that the cat isn't hers, she decides to leave, but is drawn in by a beautiful melody. She makes her way to where the sound is coming from, and discovers a girl playing a piano. After telling her friends about the girl, they all leave to check out the scene. When they go there, they cannot see the girl, but knows she is real when Hotaru hands her a notebook, and she takes it from Hotaru's hands. They have no idea who this girl is, but they are determined to find out just who she is and why she is there. The rest of the story follows their discoveries of the ghost they call Eve.
(Credit: Wikipedia)

Characters:
Mizuki Mochizuki:
A 17-year-old high school student. She met with a car accident and ended up in a coma. At the end when she wakes up she has no memories of what happened as her day's as Eve neither does she has on Adam or anything that had happened during the 2 weeks while she was away other than the fact that she had just broken up with her boyfriend. She doesn't remember the 4 kids either.
Hotaru Shiraishi :
The protagonist of the story, a young girl who met Mizuki when both of them were in a coma from separate car accidents. When she found Mizuki's ghost (Eve), she became committed to helping Mizuki. At the beginning, Hotaru says that she has a crush on Miura but at the end of the manga, when she apologizes to Sae thinking that she must have caused her best friend pain as she never thought about Sae's feelings towards Miura, she admits that she has a new crush; on Sugisaki.
Eve:
The identity of Mizuki's ghost when she was in a coma. Eve had no recollections of who she was, but remembered that Adam was her lover, and that she must find him. She eventually started to remember little memories of being Sayaka Kamijou which confuses the 4 children as they knew that Eve was actually Mizuki. It is Sayaka who in a way possessed Mizuki's body. Only Hotaru could see her.
Adam Lang:
The lead singer of the band Evil Eye. It is implied that he committed suicide at 20 years old, after his girlfriend died of an illness.
Sae Kayama:
Hotaru's best friend. She is sensible and loyal to her friends. She also tried her best to help Eve. As the story progresses, Sae finds that she is starting to like Masaki but continues to deny it since she knows that Hotaru had always had a particular interest in him but near the very end of the manga, when Hotaru apologizes to Sae and asking her if she liked Miura, she denies it.
Tetsu Sugisaki :
Hotaru's schoolmate and the son of the doctor who took care of Hotaru when she was in a coma. He became involved in the quest to help Eve as well. It seems that later on in the story, he develops a obvious crush on Hotaru although it seems that she is oblivious to it.
Masaki Miura :
Tetsu's best friend. He is the son of celebrities. His parents are divorced, and he lived with his father, who was always away at work. Although he sometimes made tactless comments, he sincerely wanted to help Eve. In the movie, he is portrayed as wearing glasses and follows Hotaru into the house the first time she goes in. When he first met Hotaru, he commented that he thinks she is cute. If is hinted that he may have a slight interest in Sae later on.
Tomoki Anzai :
Mizuki's ex-boyfriend. She put up with his infidelity until he cheated on her with her best friend. After they broke up, he wanted to apologize to her, but she met with an accident before he could do so. It is shown that while Mizuki was in a coma, that he really cared for her and loved her and that he regretted doing such things that had hurt her remembering their past together and how they had first got together.
Sayaka Kamijou :
Adam's beloved girlfriend. She was studying in England when she met him. Unfortunately, she died of a disease at about 17 years old.

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Credit: Storm in Heaven

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Death Note

Aka: Desu Nōto / デスノート
Writer: Ohba Tsugumi
Volumes: 12
Run Time: 2003-2006
Language: English
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural

Synopsis:
Yagami Light is an ace student with great prospects, who's bored out of his mind. One day he finds the "Death Note": a notebook from the realm of the Death Gods, with the power to kill people in any way he desires. With the Death Note in hand, Light decides to create his perfect world, without crime or criminals. However, when criminals start dropping dead one by one, the authorites send the legendary detective L to track down the killer, and a battle of wits, deception and logic ensues...

(Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork)

Characters:
Light Yagami:
The main character of Death Note, Light is an extremely intelligent but bored 17-year old student. When he finds the Death Note, dropped in the human world by the shinigami Ryuk, he decides to use it to kill all criminals and earns the title Kira. His ultimate goal is to cleanse the world of evil to create a world without criminals and then reign over this new world as its "god."

L:
L is the world's top-rated detective and tasked with tracking down and arresting Kira. He often takes drastic strategies to confuse and force the hand of his opponents, and his disheveled appearance disguises his brilliance. He enjoys sugar, and in nearly every scene including him, he is found eating cake or confectionery and drinking highly sweetened tea. His real name is L Lawliet.

Misa Amane:
A girl with an immense crush on Kira, Misa is a popular Japanese idol. She is immature and tends to refer to herself in the third person in an attempt to be cute. She is completely devoted to Light, saying that she loved him at first sight, although the feeling is hardly mutual- since Light merely views her as a rather annoying asset. In the manga version, she kills herself after Light's death, which is implied in the anime's finale. What happens to her after the film version is uncertain- the only remaining characters whose fates are revealed are L and the Yagami family- although she is still devastated when Light is killed.

Near:
A calm and stoic character that appears in the second half of the series. In the anime and manga versions, Near is a primary candidate to become L's successor and calls himself N during the course of his investigations. He shares a number of similarities with L. Much like how L plays with things such as sugar cubes and forks, Near is frequently shown playing with toys or hair, and he is constantly shown sitting in an unusual manner. After L's death, he was asked to join forces with Mello, who refused (it is explained that Near lacks the emotional insight to beat L, while Mello is too emotional and impulsive). Near then gained the support of the Government of the United States and formed the Secret Provision for Kira (SPK). In the 'extra' manga story, set after the end of the series, Near states that, while he respects Light's drive for justice, he can never find his 'Kira' actions excusable. His real name is Nate River. :In the film L: Change the World L grants the name "Near" to a Thai boy who is a mathematical genius; L intends for Near to succeed him.

Mello:
Mello, a character present in the anime and manga versions, was an orphan who grew up with Near and Matt in Wammy's House, Watari's shelter for "gifted" children. Like Near and Matt, Mello was one of the candidates to become L's successor. Similar to L's fondness for sweets, he is often seen eating bars of chocolate. Although Mello is quite intelligent, he often lets his emotions get the better of him. His goal in life is to surpass L and Near. His real name is Mihael Keehl.

Shinigami:
Shinigami, or Death Gods, are demon-like beings who live in the Shinigami realm. Shinigami are functionally immortal, able to extend their lives indefinitely by writing the names of humans in their Death Notes. By writing the name of a human whose fated time of death has not yet come, Shinigami have their lifespan increased by the amount that human would have lived (e.g. a forty-year-old who would have lived to the age of sixty would yield twenty years). As Ryuk describes it, life in the Shinigami realm is incredibly dull; Shinigami do little more than gamble constantly, and using the Death Note is considered something workaholics do. The main Shinigami featured in the series are Ryuk, Rem and Sidoh. The only way to kill a shinigami is through love. (e.g. If a human had a set fate to die from a murder and a shinigami kills the murderer the shinigami will then turn to dust and evaporate. Just as Gelus and Rem did) .

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Curiosities:
*There is a 37 episode anime series based on this manga.
*There are also 3 movies based on this manga:
Death Note
Death Note 2
Death Note - L Change the World

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Tomie (Manga)

Aka: 富江
Writer: Ito Junji
Volumes: 2
Release date: 1987
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Mystery

Synopsis:
These rather disturbing tales tell the story of a high-school girl named Tomie, who can be seen as a living embodiment of lust and all the negative emotions that go along with it, such as jealousy. Tomie is the ultimate self-destructive entity, yet ironically she survives anything. She is identified by a mole under her left eye.
She possesses an undisclosed power to make anyone fall in love with her. Through sleight of hand, or emotional manipulation, she drives these men into jealous rages that inevitably lead to brutal acts of violence. Men kill each other over her; and girls are sometimes driven to jealous rages as well. Tomie is inevitably killed time and again, only to regenerate. Tomie is cursed to go on forever in this way.
In the first story "Tomie", she returns to school after an announcement that she had died, much to the horror of her friends and teachers. It transpires that during a school trip, her fellow students and favorite teacher murder her and dismember her body.
Each story tells a different viewpoint of how she lived and died, with some recurring characters. The teacher (Takagi) who murders her in the first story returns several times, and though clearly insane, he still is under Tomie's thrall (even though he has noted that he understands why people fall for her). Yet at the same time is hinted to have his own agenda, encouraging research into what makes Tomie tick.
Her hair is a major factor in the stories. It kills as well as possesses, such as in the story of a young girl (Chie) who steals the hair of her father's ex-lover (Tomie) and puts it in a box. The hair grows despite it not being attached to anything. Chie's best friend borrows the hair and discovers that it can be attached to her body, which then takes the place of her regular hair. But there is a price to pay for everything in these stories. The stories are gruesome but draw the reader in with horrors that hide just around the corner.
Later it was revealed there are several copies of Tomie roaming around the world, each with an individual mind. Sometimes the two Tomie copies would be jealous of each other and try to have each other killed.
When her body scattered into pieces, each fragment of her body is capable of regenerating into a complete and independent body. When her body is burnt to ash, the ash floats in air with life of its own. It is also shown that even if Tomie's body isn't injured, her body will attempt to sprout another Tomie through budding, a process usually begun if Tomie is emotionally stressed.
Although her body is mortal and weak against all assaults, her regenerative power makes her immortal. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to regenerate her body if it is greatly damaged.

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Curiosities:
Junji Ito won the 1987 Kazuo Umezu Prize for his work on Tomie
There are 8 movies based on Tomie's books:
Tomie
Tomie: Another Face
Tomie: Replay
Tomie: Re-birth
Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
Tomie: Beginning
Tomie: Revenge
Tomie vs. Tomie

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Hana Kimi (Manga)

Aka: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e / For You in Full Blossom / 花ざかりの君たちへ
Writer: Nakajo Hisaya
Volumes: 23
Original Run: 1996- 2004
Language: English
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Synopsis:
While living in the U.S., Mizuki Ashiya watches a program on TV featuring high jumper Izumi Sano. She becomes completely in love with his grace and skill. When troubles with her classmates arise, Mizuki decides to chase Sano and enrolls in Osaka High, the all boys' school that Izumi attends in Japan. With the help of her best friend, she cuts her hair and disguises herself to remain near her idol. As she settles in, an accident reveals her identity to Hokuto Umeda, the school doctor, and Izumi Sano. Izumi hides his knowledge of Mizuki's gender and tries to help her keep her secret, though it sure isn't easy as many situations land Mizuki in compromising positions. He also has a secret love for her which makes things more difficult for her.

(Credit: Wikipedia)

Characters:

Mizuki Ashiya:
She is the protagonist of this manga. She admired Izumi Sano the moment she saw him high jump on TV. She pretends to be a boy in order to enroll into Sano's school, thereby allowing her to get closer with Sano. She loves sweet food and she is a very fast runner, initially causing all the three dorms in Osaka High to desperately recruit her. Mizuki falls in love with Sano, but is unable to tell him because she thinks that he doesn't know that she's a girl, though unbeknownst to her Sano knows her true gender and feels the same way about her. She amusingly wants to be a dog trainer and is very close to Sano's dog, Yūjirō.

Izumi Sano:
The guy that Mizuki Ashiya likes and an excellent high jumper. He finds out that Mizuki is a girl early in the series, but does not tell anyone else and actually becomes very protective of her secret. Before Mizuki came to Japan, Sano had been injured in an accident when he saved his team captain from being hit by a car, causing him to quit high jumping for a while because he thought that he couldn't handle the pressure. But thanks to Mizuki's deal with her brother (Sano had to jump while her brother was in Japan, or Mizuki would have to come home), he was able to try again and was given a second chance to high jump. Sano falls in love with Mizuki, but cannot tell her because Sano thinks that if Mizuki found out that he knows her secret, she would have to leave. In the last chapter, he followed Mizuki to California, pursuing both his college and high jump career at UC Berkeley. He eventually is able to confess his feelings for her. Sano also originally never got along with his father or younger brother, Shin; with Mizuki's help, however, he eventually reconciles with them. He proposes to Mizuki at the end of the series.

Shuichi Nakatsu:
He likes Mizuki, but doesn't know that she is really a girl, and some of his classmates believe that he is gay due to that fact. Nakatsu also seems to have come to terms with that fact. As Umeda says,"...he's only attracted to her feminine side," meaning that Nakatsu is responding as any teenage male would to being around a female, although it would appear he is a bit more excitable than his classmates as none of them seem to be affected by Mizuki-- or they simply hide it better. At times, he is very jealous of Sano because of how close he is to Mizuki. He entered the school with a football (soccer) scholarship, and is very good at it. Originally from Ōsaka (the city, which is different from the school and spelled with different kanji), he has a thick Kansai accent and frequently uses the Kansai dialect. He has bleached blonde hair.

Taiki Kayashima:
Taiki is Nakatsu's roommate, and has the ability to see ghosts and detect auras. He is always doing Nakatsu's aura report. He's also into yoga. When he first comes to Osaka High, he was teased by others due to his ESP skills. However, Nakatsu sees him as a good friend. His dream is to meditate on Mount Fuji though he really plans on going to college to study folklore after he graduates from Osaka High. He does not want to become a ghost catcher (despite Kyogo's efforts to convince him not to waste his "special talents") because the uniform does not appeal to him. In volume 4, Nakajo noted that Kayashima took his name from the "Kayashima Station", a railway station on the Keihan Main Line, located in Neyagawa-shi. He also claimed that many workers were injured during the construction of the station, as a large tree was considered to be cut down. The tree was later preserved, and the station was built around it. Incidentally, "Taiki" means "large tree".

Shinji Noe:
Part of Mizuki's group of friends, he's often seen together with his bi-spectacled friend, Kyogo Sekime. Unlike most of their friends, the duo are locals. He is the first of the group to get a girlfriend, Elicia from Saint Blossom, which shocks all of his friends especially Sekime. He also has an extreme fear of ghost and scary creatures, mainly is scared when Kayashima talks about these things. In the special chapter, he's said to have found a job in an anime production company. Like Kayashima, Noe is a station on the Keihan Main Line.

Kyogo Sekime:
Part of Mizuki's group of friends, he's often seen together with Shinji Noe. Unlike most of their friends, they're locals. He is the captain of the track team. in the future he marries his high school sweetheart, Rie, and they have a child together. Sekime is also a name of a station on the Keihan Main Line.

Senri Nakao:
A somewhat effeminate boy who harbours a serious crush on Nanba. He was upset for losing the beauty pageant because he helped Mizuki when she was kidnapped. Initially, he was secretive about being in love with Nanba, but eventually became less subtle. Towards the end of the series, he confesses his feelings to Nanba, but he was rejected. He would even attack the girls that tried to flirt with Nanba. Nakao is the school idol (or he was before Mizuki came) and he considers himself to be very beautiful. He hates mushrooms, although he ate them when Nanba asked him to. He's also a former winner of the Miss Osaka pageant during his first year at Osaka.

Minami Nanba:
The R.A. of Sano and Mizuki's dorm. He's a nephew of Umeda-sensei, and is one school-year older than Mizuki. He's a "ladies man" although very sensible. He was once in love with his tutor, Kanako Tanabe, but she left him. Umeda claims that this was what caused Nanba to become the "ladies man" he is today. In the future, it is said that he became a model. He, along with the other R.A.s finds out that Mizuki is a girl, but helps keep her secret (although it wasn't a secret for very long). Among Mizuki's group of friends, he seems to frequently butt heads with Nakatsu. He's also a former winner of the Miss Osaka pageant, during his first year at Osaka, a fact which he isn't terribly proud of. His name is taken from Namba Station, located in Minami, a region in Chuo-ku, Osaka.

Megumi Tennōji:
He is the leader of the First Dormitory and the Karate Club, Megumi has a fierce exterior, but also has a heart of gold. He discovers that Mizuki's a girl towards the end of the series; along with him, the other two dorm heads learn of the secret, although Minami claims that he had his suspicions for a long time. He is also Kanna's fiancé.

Masao Himejima:
Oscar M. Himejima, he is the leader of the Third Dormitory, Masao is a total narcissist. He's also a "Germanphile", calling himself Oscar and spouting random German phrases. He dyed his hair and wears blue contacts. However, he has his serious side, as can be seen when the dorm heads realised that Mizuki's a girl. He has two younger brothers who are twins, Shion and Anri.

Hokuto Umeda:
The doctor at the school's nurse office. He knows that Mizuki is a girl, gives her advice, and pretty much acts like an older brother or uncle to her. Umeda is gay. He is the uncle of Minami Nanba and brother to both Io (Minami's mother) and Rio. He is also in love with one of his old friends, another character from a different one of Hisaya Nakajo's stories (Ryoichi Kijima from Yumemiru Happa). The story between them is featured in 3 special chapters in Hana-Kimi, depicting of their high school days together. Karasuma (the reporter hounding Sano) is very terrified of him, but he just explains that he "shut her up" since she was "all freaked out about something and wouldn't shut up" while he was in a bad mood, so he choked her. He has a tendency to kick people in the head and call them stupid.

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Volume 14

Volume 15

Volume 16

Volume 17

Volume 18

Volume 19

Volume 20

Volume 21

Volume 22

Volume 23

Credit: All the credits are inside the manga files

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After School Nightmare (Manga)

Aka: Hōkago Hokenshitsu / After School Infirmary

Writer: Setona Mizushiro

Volumes: 10

Original Run: 2005-2008

Language: English

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural

Synopsis:

Mashiro Ichijo is a girls' idol, handsome and kind, but he has been hiding a secret all his life: he's neither a true male, nor a true female. He has the upper body of a male but the lower body of a female. When a mysterious school nurse introduces him to a new class, he finds that in order to graduate he has to go to a world of dreams to find a mysterious key, competing with other classmates to find it. Struggling with his orientation issue he starts having mixed feelings regarding whether he wants to live as a male and go out with one of the prettiest girls in school, or if he wants to live life as a female and be with the cute male slacker; both of which are madly in love with Ichijo.
(Credit: Wikipedia)

Characters:

Mashiro Ichijo:

While he is the apple of every young girl's eye, Mashiro hides a tremendous secret. He is neither a man nor a woman, with the upper half of a male and lower of a female . Mashiro claims to identify himself as a man, however he is constantly doubting himself. He frequently does things that he thinks "men" would commonly do. When Kureha professes her love for him after learning of his secret, Mashiro begins to date her.

Dream Self: In the dream world Mashiro appears as himself in either a male or female school uniform, depending on his emotions. At one point in the series Mashiro creates two blades to protect himself, each blade representing that side of himself. Both blades are feather shaped, but the male side is a long sword and the female side a short sword. The two swords are connected, symbolizing that he cannot get rid of the female aspects of himself, much like he can't get rid of the short sword. The strength of the blades is determined by Mashiro's ability to essentially will them into sharpness. Later he shows signs of abilities similar to Ai Mizuhashi's.

Kureha Fujishima:

She is cheery and bright, but has a strong dislike of men. Since Mashiro is very protective of her (and is not entirely male), Kureha soon falls for him. Kureha is very distrustful of Sou, and will take any opportunity to separate Mashiro and Sou. It is revealed in Chapter 2 (Mashiro's second dream in the class) that her distrust of men stems from a brutal rape done to her during a walk home from kindergarten, plus the harsh words she overheard her father say to her mother afterwards. However, as the story progresses, she and Sou team up and become friends, which is part of her plan to get revenge on Mashiro for their break-up.

Dream Self: In the dream world, Kureha appears dressed as she was after she was attacked, wearing a ragged cloak and dripping with rain, her face and eyes concealed by the cloak's hood because of shame and rage. She is very vengeful and quick to attack. Later in the seventh or eighth book she becomes a knight after overcoming her difficulties.

Sou Mizuhashi:

He is mysterious and very protective. Ever since he found out that Mashiro Ichijo was a woman, he has been trying anything to get Ichijo to love him, even going so far as to admit his love to him in the second volume. It is revealed he lost his virginity to his sister, Ai.

Dream Self: In the third book it is suggested that Sou is the hand, that was keen to help Mashiro in the dreams. By the fifth book, however, it is discovered through Sou's sister, Ai, that Sou is indeed the Black Knight that has been constantly tormenting Mashiro. In the ninth book, he tells Mashiro that he was merely hiding behind the knight armour, thus implicitly corroborating the fact that Kurosaki was indeed the Black Knight. He also tells Mashiro that he thought it would be better for Mashiro if he believed Sou was the knight. Sou's dreamself is revealed in the ninth book: his dreamself is Ai Mizuhashi. In the tenth book Sou's dreamself is a dog.

Ai Mizuhashi:

Sou's older sister, she is dark and a tad sadistic. She has a serious brother complex, claiming she can only graduate once Sou has found the right girl to take care of him while trying to keep him dependent on her. It is later discovered that Ai and Sou have sexual relations with each other and that Ai doesn't go to school with Sou and only sneaked into the dream class to keep him from graduating.

Dream Self: Ai takes the form of a young girl in Gothic Lolita style clothing and is almost always carrying a teddy bear. Wandering the dream world in lace and sometimes blood, she has considered her as the most important to the dream class. She has proclaimed herself as the strongest dreamer in the class and displays a great deal of power in the dream world. Ai takes this form because during her childhood is when she lost Sou and the teddy bear represents Sou. In the ninth book, she is revealed to be a ghost of sorts, a creation of Sou's mind upon his betrayal by his (real) sister when he was young. Although he wishes to get rid of her, it seems Sou lacks the willpower to do so.

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