Back to novels.
During my previous bout of manga frenzy (before going into music and buying keyboards and all) I encountered something they call "Haruhii'sm".
Apparently this Haruhi is some manga female lead...?
It turned out to be one of the most famous Japanese mini novels (if not the most famous... actually I don't think so) of late, and had attracted quite a following.
What was the hype about?
I therefore bought the first novel of the series, "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" to find the answer to my question.
Well... the answers I found out from first impression weren't very positive... while people might actually find such a manipulative and self-centred girl attractive, I certainly don't.
OK... maybe there're other characters who might fare better, like Mikuru. With her bust size, baby face and "brains", she's definitely every guy's dream girl. Ha-ha-ha. I mean, if you're going to keep following a leader who doesn't give a **** about your modesty, fine. The only thing I find really nice about Mikuru is probably the rumour that Erika Toda will be playing that role in live action movie.
But then again, putting Toda into this role sounds a bit...
Still, wanting to give this series a chance, I bought the manga adaptation. Because manga is easier to read and less time consuming. I mean, you don't want to spend so much time on something that might eventually be a waste of time anyway. But no, I didn't finish reading the novel and I probably never will.
"Shana the Flame-Eyed" (another one of the better known Jap mini-novels here) seemed a better alternative. It's apparently the story of a high school student with the ability to morph into a fighter with fire powers.
I decided to start from the manga adaptation this time instead of the original novel (I really hate reading in Chinese, and I can't locate any English-translated version... and I don't want to repeat the same mistake), and it turned out to be rather interesting. Based on first impression, at least it isn't... shallow.
I'll start on the novel soon, after finding no complaints about the first 2 volumes of manga adaptation.
Ah... and the figurines too...
Shana in the FlameHaze fighter mode. I got the special variation with the wings of fire instead of the normal cloak.
Sidenote: I heard from Nick that he finished reading Deathly Hallows after getting it on its first day of release. Wow!
