• manga,  Uncategorized

    MANGA: Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shika Nai!

    Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shika Nai! – Gamoko Tsuyu

    College student Fukuhara Kouta has bad luck that causes problems everywhere he goes. One day, Shinomiya, a student with super good luck, helps him out. Now, in order to divide the luck between them, they need to be with each other all the time.

    Fukou-kun Can Do Nothing But Kiss is a humorous story about a spectacularly unlucky guy trying to neutralize his bad luck by going out with his school mate known for perpetual good luck.

    Fukou puts up a friendly, all-around nice guy face to hide the fact that he always suffers some misfortune everyday. Later, the claws come out. He is actually a potty mouthed, hot-tempered dude with a mean right hook. Strangely enough, he was more likable like that.

    Shinomiya is the genuine all-around nice guy who loves making people happy. He frequently shares winning lottery tickets to friends but some unscrupulous people secretly used him and resell the tickets.

    The two started going out. At first Fukou was just using Shinomiya but he soon noticed how Shinomiya always do things to make him happy. Feelings, confusing, conflicting feelings ensued.

    I had high hopes for this. The manga had a great premise but weak execution. The humor was vaguely amusing but not the laugh out loud variety. The romance also needed a little oomph. The connection of the two MCs is there but missing a lowkey fluffy scene or two to show the depth of feelings. The artwork is a bit generic but it looked good overall, especially the characters.

  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Happy Endings by Alice Winters

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    Demon Magic: Happy Endings – Alice Winters

    Smart men never dabble with demons. I never claimed to be smart, but at least I’m powerful enough to control them. When I bound Havoc to me nearly three hundred years ago, I never realized how difficult he’d make my life, although “accidentally” lighting him on fire every now and then does bring a smile to my face.

    Havoc is handsome, mysterious, and somehow my closest companion, even if we don’t always get along. He’s more interested in bedding attractive women than protecting my life, which defeats the main reason a mage like me would have a demon. I even had to fight off swordsmen alone once because he was too busy betting on who’d survive.

    When fifteen people are found dead with messages from a long-extinct cult, Havoc and I are forced to face our past and sort through our differences. We start to realize that there’s something more to this relationship, something that has kept us by each other’s sides for so long. Maybe it took three hundred years to finally understand my feelings for Havoc and realize that I can’t imagine being with anyone but him. Havoc and I will do everything we can to stop the evil that is threatening the lives of the people I care about. Or destroy everything—we haven’t quite figured that out yet.

    Happy Endings is a 73k word novel that has an immensely powerful mage, a shapeshifting demon with a strong libido, a dark mage that just won’t stay dead, a spray bottle put to unusual uses, armor that is most definitely not made of dragon skin, blackmail involving an unfortunate slow-mo video, a detective being pursued by a determined minotaur, unprofessional use of illusions, and an epic walk into battle.

    *Revised and edited.


    Happy Endings kicked off Demon Magic, another Alice Winters paranormal snark-fest.

    Miles and his contracted demon go about their intertwined lives for 300 years, with Havoc sleeping with every woman he can get. Miles lets him carry on with his amorous business while very, very secretly pining for his demon.

    The mage owns a café that doubled as magic shop and home. Apart from an oversexed demon familiar, he has a witch assistant and a werewolf chef who were a couple. He was approached by two detectives about a dead body with markings similar to that used by an Inquisition-type group Miles had encountered hundreds of years ago.

    Miles and Havoc’s past was dredged up the deeper they became involved with the case. We learned about the abuse Miles suffered from his late master and how he and Havoc forged their connection. It later turned out, this very dead master might not be resting in peace after all.

    Miles is quite possibly, the most powerful mage in existence although the book hasn’t confirmed it. I always liked it when we get an established high level magic user right off the bat since I’m bored with beginners. There were a lot of magic on display which I really enjoyed. Miles can use glamour and change his appearance. He can basically do almost anything but has an affinity for fire. And he has demons at his beck and call.

    Havoc, well, he’s a piece of work. The demon is obnoxious, horny and childish. We meet a lot of his type in the author’s works. He’s tolerable but him going from chasing skirts to getting into Miles’ pants seemed to come out of nowhere. But after my confusion with his sudden turnabout wore off, I could see his complete dedication to Miles. Which is always delivered with a jibe or two to the long-suffering mage.

    This series has a great supporting cast. Standouts were Sam the detective and Iya the minotaur. I’d love to read their story. Iya is a himbo who latched on to Sam after Miles assigned him to protect the detective under strict orders not to penetrate the human unless the human said so otherwise. Trust the doofus to misinterpret that in his little demonic brain.

    At first, I was put off by the ridiculous opening scene and had to give it another try before it stuck. The author’s humor is the polarizing kind. Either you like it or you don’t. Here, it got tiresome at many points. Many lines weren’t that funny. They were trying too hard to be raunchy.

    There were also scenes that did nothing to the story, merely there to show off a gag or two. And almost overshadowed the progress of relevant events which is too bad because the core plot was actually exciting. We got necromancers, missing grimoires and political intrigues, not to mention a cute romance involving a demon. They’re my favorite kind of supernatural love interest next to vampires.

    The writing wasn’t as dedicated to its world-building as it to the humor but we still more or less see an understandable picture of what’s going on. It is the kind of fantasy world where every imaginable creature exists so we get everything from paladins to archangels and things that I’m not even sure what.

    There were also explanations provided for demon summoning. Most of it were the usual ritualistic stuff but I liked that Miles is so powerful he can drop the chanting mumbo jumbo and just go with “I summon you”.

    The book also tackled the demon’s relationship to its summoner. Most contracted demons were treated nothing more than strictly controlled, often mistreated tools. Miles and Havoc’s relationship has always been special. The mage treated his demon kindly from the start. A huge risk because demons are very tricky. I love the trust they had with each other.

    Happy Endings might have gone overboard with the silly gags and could have woven a stronger world but it still had the right amount of magic, loveable demons, quirky humans and intriguing threads to propel me through to the next book.

    And so the quest continues with more misadventures, more graves turned, more misuse of glamour spells and a monster from the past making his comeback. Looks like the real fun’s just starting.

    Rating:
    3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it

    Soundtrack: Stuck With You
    Artist: Upstate
    Album: Wake The Morning


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  • song,  Uncategorized

    SOUNDTRACK: Stuck With You by Upstate

    Soundtrack to Demon Magic: Happy Endings by Alice Winters

    With a shared past, demonic contract, centuries of snark and actual feelings between them, Miles and Havoc are forever intertwined. Good luck untangling this mess.

  • quote,  Uncategorized

    I throw my hands up for ya
    When I cannot sleep I call ya
    You’re crazy but I love ya more and more everyday
    I don’t know where it goes this roller coaster winding road
    Flip on the TV kick off your shoes
    You’re stuck with me and I’m stuck with you
    Whether the rain or sunny
    When you’re on the edge I’ll jump in
    When you get lost I’m coming anytime you call
    You give me a running start
    I’ll race you all the way home
    You’re stuck with me and I’m stuck with you
    We got nowhere else to go
    Weather the storm
    Find a way Take the high road
    We’ll find the light
    Stick it out together
    Static on the TV secondhand news
    You’re stuck with me and I’m stuck with you
    Flip on the TV kick off your shoes
    You’re stuck with me and I’m stuck with you