Hinano has pretty much summed up what the whole chunk of the latest two chapters are, so I think I’m just gonna go emo and say my thoughts over the latest revelation about Ikuto’s past.

Watching episode 43 of the anime (the end of the Amu x Utau epic battle) while knowing the bits and pieces of Ikuto’s awfully sad past makes quite a difference, if I might say so myself. Watching the anime while knowing beforehand the train of thoughts running through Ikuto’s mind added layers of complexity and depth that I would not have imagined if I didn’t read the manga. Why Ikuto is so eager to obtain the Embryo, why he turned out to be the Ikuto that he is now. Manga spoilers, in this sense, prove to be beneficial in that it gives you the privilege of having ‘omniscient eyes’, making for advanced epiphany moments when you watch the anime.

Like Amu’s moment of epiphany in chapter 32, the moment she found out Ikuto’s past and finally understood the burden he’s carrying all this time, I found myself crying over episode 43 when I get to think about all he’s been through I won’t be able to see Ikuto the same way, that’s for sure, and right now, all I’m hoping is for Amu to kick Gozen and his minion’s ass and bring back Ikuto!! I’m really glad we have the Shugo Charas and also Yaya who quickly turns the mood of the series from sad emo angst-filled, to genki optimistic. That’s one of the things I really like about this series, it’s brimming with positive love energy

On a side note, the mysterious boy who appeared a few chapters back makes another appearance in chapters 31-32. Much is yet to be revealed about this little boy, whether or not he’s related to the Embryo (or Amu and Ikuto?), etc., and we’d just have to find that out as more chapters come out.

I can no longer recall what made me stop following the Skip Beat manga yearssss ago. Oh right, I don’t think I even immersed myself into it before, which is most likely why I can’t remember the slightest of details with regards to the acting feats Kyoko undertook, or her antics with Ren. I can actually recall some bits and pieces, but not so vividly as a true fan would. But now, after yearsss I finally got back to the Skip Beat bandwagon, dragging my brother with me to the heights of Skip Beat nirvana, ohohoho (I checked and I had the raws of volumes 1-11 way back 2005, never been touched. imagine that T__T) Just for the record, my brother is not like Impz who can tolerate and stomach quite a lot of shoujo works. He hates Marmalade Boy to the core, same with ItaKiss which he deems to lack development. Then we also ended up having an argument about Saiunkoku where I had to defend Shuurei with all my might but failed to convince him nonetheless. So yeah, I think you can see a bit of his standards of a good manga / anime.

So anyways, I’m gonna make this short and sweet since I have to sleep and wake up early for work, my grandmother already scolded me earlier for dragging my brother into this addiction so I have to get my arse to sleep early and not cause any more headaches. If you followed my tweets, you’ll know that I spent this whole Sunday-Monday free time I have catching up with Skip Beat, starting from ground zero, and having dragged my brother into this makes it even more fun~ It’s fun being able to share the joy of reading this SUPER AWESOME^N shoujo manga with my oniichan, laughing together at the wackiness of the manga, discussing realizations and insights about acting, and giggling over Kyoko x Ren’s rabu rabu antics (or is it just me giggling?).

After years, I was finally able to grasp what L-chan and other fans have been proclaiming, about how Skip Beat tops Tokyo Crazy Paradise. 100% agreed! I loved Tokyo Crazy Paradise to bits, most of the people in IRC should know that well. I’d go all TCP <3333 when it becomes the topic (imagine Kyoko’s sparkly eye fairytale princess mode). I just find it amazing how Yoshiki Nakamura will be able to produce this awesome(r) manga after its awesome predecessor.

Right now, I want to pimp the life out of this manga, but I’m running out of words. So let me put it this way. If there’s one shoujo manga out there you definitely shouldn’t miss out on, it’s definitely this (and yes I’m looking at you, regardless of age, gender, or whatsoever stratification). In Seleria’s words (way back when she read it last month), “it’s really crazy but it hits close to home”. It has quite a load of quirkiness and craziness, but it doesn’t go overboard. It has a kind of silliness that still makes sense, if you know what I mean. It’s a shoujo manga which breaks all sorts of shoujo stereotypes which a number of fans have already grown tired of. No melodrama, no nonsensical irresponsible characters which doesn’t serve a purpose in the overall story and plot.

I’ve already seen Nakamura-sensei’s magic with TCP, I feel it soo much alive again in Skip Beat -- how she had things planned right from the start, she had it all written at the palms of her hand. The characters, with their complex past, their present, and the future, how the story will progress from start to end (even if we can't see the end yet, I'm positive that it will be great, because the journey towards that end is already amazing). I know I’m not saying anything concrete here to make skeptical fans believe what I say, but you know the feeling of confidence in a certain author, who really knows what she’s doing, the kind of mangaka whose work is something you’d anticipate with each chapter that comes out, knowing well that it’s always in accordance to this BIG and BRIGHT picture she had in mind right when she started working on this project. The fact that this manga is about showbiz, and how the actors and actresses themselves understand how they should be able to portray their roles well, I can confidently say that Nakamura-sensei won’t allow the great characters she created to just act irresponsibly and out-of-character.

Lastly, before I end this, I just want to say that I see myself so much in Kyoko. Or rather, I actually want to be like her too, or at least, be her friend Many of you might have already seen the different faces of this bunny, based on what I’ve been writing in this blog for the past months. Love experiences aside, depending on how much you’ve been reading, you’d know that I can be pretty naïve at times, idealistic at some point, super emo (a LOT of times), total rabid fangurl, and sinister. I really think I turned into the evil-Kyoko with the profanity-filled Wanted review I made last July, and shocked and scared some people in the process, including my real life acquaintances who never knew I had that side. If you guys actually pictured me as an innocent little angel, well I’m shattering that image now, because I really can be as evil as Kyoko

But more than that, I see myself in Kyoko’s struggle to seek her mother’s acceptance. In my case, it was my father’s acceptance, one of the reasons why I struggled(?) to stay on top of the class, at ALL times, all throughout elementary till high school. It’s also the reason why I had such a low self-confidence way back then. Despite how I became the class valedictorian, it meant nothing. It was something required of me, nothing special. It’s not only now that I managed to set free from the shackles of my past, now that I’m working, just like Kyoko who found herself back despite everything. Forgive the emoness haha ^^;

And that ladies and gentlemen is my super lengthy tl;dr confession of my love for Skip Beat. I demand you to read it!!! Or you’ll be cursed and feel my wrath >E *unleashes inner demons~~*

Now, to sleep. Zzzz

First off, thanks to ShiningNinja for giving me the heads up on this one (and for the scans)… this was indeed such a heart-wrenching chapter. IKUTOOOoo BAWW ;______________;

Chapter 30 jumps to the next day after the Ikuto x Tadase fight, so we’re pretty much clueless as to what happened throughout that intense battle. We only see its aftermath, the wounds that both Ikuto and Tadase sustained, in particular. Moving on to the next day, Nagihiko was formally introduced to the rest of the Royal Guardians, as the new Jack’s chair (and as Nadeshiko’s “twin”). Yaya was amazed by his striking resemblance with Nadeshiko, while Rima scorns at how he can be a Guardian when his egg hasn’t hatched yet (boy that sounds wrong).

Tadase defends Nagihiko against Rima’s mockery and almost slips in revealing that Nagihiko used to be previous Quee– and sly Nagihiko manages to work his way through this. Yaya tells Rima that Nadeshiko is Amu’s best friend, which makes Rima cry in envy. But we all know Rima and her skillz in acting, and Nagihiko easily sees through her façade of crocodile tears. As they say, it takes one to know one

Tadase cuts to the chase and discusses his findings on the recent X-eggs gathering incidents, the perpetrator of whom is no one else but Ikuto. Amu vehemently denies this to be true, and was about to defend Ikuto’s innocence by telling them that he was in her room all along, but stops midway as she thinks of the distasteful consequence once Tadase finds out that Ikuto was present during his private confession.

The Royal Guardian meeting ends, and Amu takes some time alone to think of her dilemma, caught in between the “feud” between Ikuto and Tadase as she is (or so that’s how it seems like to Amu). She feels bad for keeping the issue about Ikuto (and her temporary ‘adoption’ of the stray cat), but couldn’t bear the thought of making Tadase sad and angry (at her) with this revelation. And then, Nadeshiko comes to her aid to cheer her up, just like old times, only that he’s Nagihiko now.

Before Amu confides about her problem, she makes Nagihiko tie up his hair the same way Nadeshiko does (and Nagihiko also does his ‘Nadeshiko’ voice as a bonus ), which makes Amu more comfortable around him. In response to the question Amu posed, Nagihiko tells her that keeping secrets from someone is not good, by virtue that’s the way it’s supposed to be. But then there are times when lying is deemed to be the best option, if that’s the way to keep someone from being hurt. You should just be prepared to bear the consequences that comes with lying, says Nagihiko. We all know that Nadeshiko is hitting two birds with one stone with this advice of his, it reflects his very own dilemma of keeping his real identity a secret from Amu, the girl he treasures the most.

Tadase meets up with Amu and decides to tell him what he knows about Ikuto, giving her a forewarning that Ikuto is an ominous black cat. They arrange a meet-up for this. Amu arrives home and finds Ikuto reading Nakayorushi (lolz), which makes her all the more dismiss what Tadase said about him being an ominous cat. Ikuto tricks her into taking a peek at the “wounds” on his chest, so he gets to hug her Amu drags him off to shower after that.

Ikuto gets into his usual perv mode and complains about the size of the bathroom, imagining how two people would fit in this little space. After some time, Amu decides to get herself dressed-up for her meeting with Tadase, and warns Ikuto not to take a peek. Ikuto tells her he won’t do anything that will make her mad, so she can be rest assured of that.

Amu is rather surprised and happy about this, and thinks of the many faces she has seen of Ikuto. He constantly teases her, but he also saves her whenever she needs help, and always understood her feelings. Just then, Yoru spots something by the window (the Easter henchmen) and warns Ikuto about this.

Amu sneaks out the bathroom with Ikuto, only to be caught by her mother. Amu explains the situation to her mom, who believes in her, but was disappointed that she kept this from her all this time. After the scolding session, Amu’s mom decides that Ikuto could no longer stay at their house, and helps him find a place to stay instead.

Ikuto prepares to take his leave, and thinks of how wonderful it is to have a family like Amu’s. Tadase arrives not long after, only to find Ikuto together with Amu. Amu was at a lost on how to explain all this to Tadase, when Ikuto does this on her behalf, and makes fun of Tadase’s confession too.

Poor Tadase was hurt by all this, and weeps as he takes his leave. Amu scolds Ikuto for being a jerk and drives him off — the reaction Ikuto totally expected and wanted, so he can prevent anyone else from getting involved with his own mess.

Amu searches for Tadase, while Ikuto surrenders himself to Easter. Yoru frantically asks Amu for his help, to save Ikuto who’s currently in the brink of danger.

Despite my long KnS-silence, I still kept myself updated with the series behind-the-blogging-scene (among the rare few KnS fans out there in the English-speaking blogosphere too). I read chapter 9 of the manga about 5 months back, then I no longer heard of any updates, until recently. Chapter 10 came out in the April 2008 issue of Dragon Age (and I only got to read it last month), much to my surprise that it marks the end of both the Misao arc, and the entire KnS manga too My hopes to see the Ignition novels in its manga form has been crushed. ;___;

But oh well, no use moping about it now. Perhaps the mangaka also found the succeeding arcs to be a trainwreck, and decided that ending the manga with the novel’s best arc would be best.

the “inner cover” of the manga, which I nearly missed out on had I not removed the manga’s outer flap

With all that said, here goes this KnS manga post, in memory of this trainwreck yet memorable series. Kazuma x Ayano <3 Quite some time has passed since I first wrote this post and now I have the manga tankoubon of volume 2 in my hands <3 (I still owe the KnS fans out there the novel reviews, I know, sorry for slacking off… this will do for now ^^; )

Take note that my intention with this post is to enlighten existing KnS fans about the manga, so you have to know happened in the Misao arc to fully understand what I’m talking about here. I’ll just be pointing out the differences I found in the manga (compared to the anime and novel), and my overall impression of it. The manga also assumes that you have some KnS knowledge since the manga’s story takes place sometime after the first Kaze no Stigma arc, so if this review will ever convince you to plunge into the KnS world, I suggest checking out the first few episodes of the anime (or read the first volume of the novel), at the very least.

Because I am such an Ayano pimp

I only have one word for the KnS manga: AWESOME <3. I really love it; even the novel author praises the mangaka Nekomiya-sensei, for making it live up to the novel, despite all the changes he did. Aside from its awesome artwork and level of details (which can be seen way back my first post on this), the manga also boasts awesome fight scenes, and more Kazuma x Ayano antics. Nekomiya made Ayano all the more tsundere, yet less annoying and more cute & sweet Kazuma was also made even darker, though still fitting to his image and not OOC.

First, let’s take a look at how the “battle” went between Ayano and Kazuma in episode 6 of the anime where not much of a battle really happened. To refresh your memory, it’s the scene where Ayano challenges Kazuma to a fight, unforgivable as she found it to be that Kazuma let Misao escape on purpose, defending a supposedly criminal.

Compare this “fight scene”:

with this:

…not even worth comparing right? The anime sticks closely to the novel for this one. Props to the manga for daring to change this portion of the story, showing us a semi-berserk Kazuma as early as this arc.

For fun here goes more piccies from this battle, featuring the grim Kazuma and Ayano at the brink of death.

After the horror of this life-and-death situation, it’s but natural for Ayano to fear Kazuma, moreso fighting against him yet again.

In the end, Ayano remembers how she vowed to use her power to protect the people she treasures, and gains the courage to face Kazuma, dragging along Ren with her this time

“By this scar, I swear to defeat you!”

As Ayano and Kazuma comes face to face in battle, she gives this GAR speech which both Kazuma and Ren weren’t able to take seriously lol.

Unlike the anime (we’re now covering episode 7), there was no fancy “Flying from the Moon” entrace for Kazuma in the manga (same with the novel), hence the Kazuma x Ayano confrontation went a little different as well. There was no “Ayano ends up in Kazuma’s arms” scene, but still, I liked the manga’s rendition better. I’m a sucker for pretty pics, so sue me. I also liked the additional Kazuma teases featured throughout this chapter. And… the SD Ren is <3!! X3

As I’ve mentioned in a previous deep frying post for episode 7, there was supposedly [yet another] fight between Ayano and Kazuma after the Ren barrier scene (lol), and again, the manga made it EPIC WIN.

After this, Kazuma starts his countdown, awaiting the “happenings” between Misao and the Kannagis who were out to get her. They hear an explosion and heads to where it came from, only to find Misao who already slaughtered his father and some of his henchmen.

The details about Michael Harley’s brainwashing of Misao, which were left out by the anime, were also discussed in the manga. Michael knew well that there was no way the kind and gentle Misao could kill anyone for the sake of revenge, and hence he sort of sealed away that “gentleness” aspect of her temporarily, through hypnotism perhaps. That explains how he managed to turn her into Dark Misao.

Ayano’s sympathy for Misao, and her questioning as to whether Misao would be better off dying now that everything was taken away from her, which were in the novel (details of which I also mentioned in my deep frying), remained intact and beautifully expressed in its manga form.

The succeeding battles, Ayano fighting against the Vritra like a war machine ready to die in battle, and the final tag-team EPIC battle, were all great as well.

And to highlight one of my ultimate favorite Kazuma x Ayano scene(s) in the entire KnS (the HUG scene), which started out with Kazuma saving Ayano’s ass from her reckless fight, leading to this really sweet antic between the two lovebirds

With Kazuma and Ayano’s powers combined, they form one of the coolest couple tag-team EVER, and defeat Vritra with the power of love.

All’s well that ends well, as Misao gains a renewed sense of living, thanks to Kazuma.

Days after the incident, Kazuma and Ayano visit Misao, who surprises them with her decision to become a priest(ess). Kazuma also reveals why he wanted to save Misao so much, which was rooted to his scarred childhood past and how Misao helped him out once. The manga showed that Ayano understood full well what Kazuma felt, how he could be so thankful to Misao for that single act of kindness, which gave a glimmer of hope to his contemptuous life.

Before bidding goodbye to Misao, Ayano gives Misao some hard slapping, her unique gesture of cheering up Misao, which at the same time signifying her “challenge” of not losing to her (against Kazuma, most likely x3)

Kazuma and Ayano walks off, and Ayano becomes all deredere as she tells Kazuma that she would’ve done the same thing Misao did, if she was present during the time when he was bullied.

Ayano was certainly brought in a better light by the manga, as they showed her to be more mature, and not the annoying dense little girl she was in the anime.

So, to all Kaze no Stigma fans, as well as haters, even if the anime was a trainwreck I still suggest you go check out this manga. It ends with the BEST ARC, and retains the elements which made KnS such a memorable series.

At long last, a Shugo Chara post. Casualties of this post includes some burnt chocolates I was melting for my choco flakes. So please be appreciative of this or else I’ll throw those poop-looking burnt chocolates on your face. oh and I owe a big thanks to lysabelle for allowing me to use her scans m(_ _)m

From where the previous chapter left off, Utau’s Ikuto-radar leads her to Amu’s place, though her suspicion quickly wanes as she convinces herself that she’s just being paranoid as usual *whew*. Thanks to that, Amu didn’t have to do anything to deceive the unsuspecting Utau. Instead of fretting over Ikuto, Utau drags Amu out to lunch to a nearby ramen shop, where they have some girl to girl talk. Utau confides how she’s been searching for Ikuto with no luck (he was right under her nose but she dismissed the possibility of him being in Amu’s house :P).

Leaving Easter has left Utau in a rougher road in her singing career now, but Utau doesn’t seem to mind this at all. She has found true joy in singing, so even small gigs are enough to make her happy. Amu even praises Utau for her new song, which she finds to be loads better than her previous works, and reveals how she’s become a huge Utau fan after this. Tsundere Utau could simply blush at Amu’s flattery. They really have become good friends now X3

Meanwhile, back in the Easter, we find out that Ikuto’s precious violin was used as guinea pig for one of their evil planz. They filled it with the power of X-eggs (hence the repulsion Ikuto feels when he opens the violin case), which makes it a useful X-egg harvesting tool, once Ikuto plays it. The violin was supposedly under development when Ikuto stole it, but his stepfather was left with no choice but to get on with their evil plan earlier than expected, and use the violin to completely take control of Ikuto like a helpless pawn of the Easter. Oh noes! D:

Utau and Amu continue on with their little chit-chat, and this time around, Utau confides about her and Ikuto’s past. Utau and Ikuto’s father was a genius violinist by the name of Aruto Tsukiyomi, who fell in love with Souko Hoshina, their mother, and also the only daughter of the Easter Founder Hoshina clan. Despite their father’s inherent talents, this wasn’t enough of a criteria for the Hoshinas who was concerned with wealth and fame like most rich bostad families, and hence their father and mother’s relationship was not approved of. But still, they got married, under one condition: Aruto was to quit violin and take over Easter. But Aruto’s love for violin was so great that he wasn’t able to abide by this promise. On the day the previous Easter president died, their father left their house together with his violin, leaving Utau and Ikuto alone with their mother.

Their mom managed to raise them alone, but still she continued on hoping for his husband’s return. Until finally, Aruto’s violin was found in some foreign land, years after. Their mom lost all hopes of him coming back after that, and married off another man (their current stepfather), the bastard who let them work their arses off for Easter, as retribution for the crime of their dad. Amu couldn’t believe that the Easter would do this to them, knowing well that the crime of their father shouldn’t have anything to do with them. Utau enlightens Amu of how the cruel world works, those in power can do anything they want, and powerless could do nothing against them.

This is why Utau longed for the power of the Embryo, to save Ikuto from this cruel fate. But after everything that has happened, Utau has finally come to accept that she’s not as strong as she thought she was, all thanks to Amu (Amu reacts in surprise with a “USOODAAA”, but Utau just tells her to shut up and listen to her lolz). Utau finds Amu annoying, but acknowledges the power that she was. According to her, Amu has this strange power with which she gets to save just about everyone around her, and it’s for this reason that she’s now entrusting Ikuto to Amu (though the way she said it was really indirect and all poser-tsuntsun :P)

Just when every scene up until this point seemed all about Amuto, Tadase (and Kuukai) just had to ruin it all. Thanks to this, we see Amu dazing off in her usual Tadase-dreamy mode, and Kuukai even does them a favor by challenging Utau to a ramen-eating contest so that Amu and Tadase can have some quality time together T__T Tadase once again confesses his love to Amu, to which he isn’t expecting a reply anytime soon. Just having his feelings “accepted” is just enough, he says, and continues on telling Amu that he’ll do her best from hereon, to make her love him back. Tadase AGAIN tells Amu how much he likes for her like three times in a row, and Amu’s raburabu-meter was obviously close to going berserk. Thanks to some nearby X-egg gathering fest disturbance which Tadase suspects to be caused by some violin sound, their raburabu scene was interrupted *whew*

Tadase’s expression changes to that of anger, the moment he witnesses this, and tells himself that he won’t forgive Ikuto if he’s the one behind all this. Amu could just wonder what’s the real score between Ikuto and Tadase, and why gets so worked up when it comes to matters regarding Ikuto.

Amu hurries back home to check on Ikuto, and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees him dozing off in her bedroom. Unknown to Amu, Ikuto was already being lured by the Easter. When nighttime came, Ikuto was turned into a lifeless zombie by the Easter (and the violin), transforming into this evil Pied Pier, who gathers a horde of X-eggs as ordered by his “master”. Tadase, who was already suspicious of Ikuto right from the start, and comes face-to-face with the possessed perpetrator.

Additional Thoughts

Poor Ikuto… poor Utau-chan too, but then she already broke free from the Easter whilst Ikuto still hasn’t =/ I wonder if Ikuto’s father is still alive, he might just come back in the later chapters, and we’ll be able to see a great reunion between Ikuto and his dad. I do admire both Ikuto and Utau for not bearing any hatred against their father, Ikuto even loves him soo much despite not having much memories of him (and Ikuto still hasn’t said much about his fond memories with this father either, if any). But rawr, my hatred for the evil Easter has gone up with this chapter… look what they did to poor Ikuto!! I just hope Amu will come back in the next chapter and make Ikuto return to his normal self! (A kiss is fine too *imagines scene in InuYasha movie 2*)

Allow me to rant first before I switch to my Shugo Chara fangurl mode.

My Nakayoshi subscription ended last last month, and I no longer renewed it because it was too costly and takes up a lot of space. Hence, I asked permission from another scanner to use her scans for the blog instead. But alas, she’s also a normal healthy girl, whose life doesn’t revolve around Shugo Chara, so she wasn’t able to scan chapter 28. To the impatient people grumbling (and even cursing) for the next chapter, I suggest you go get yourself a subscription from CDJapan. It costs 6,540yen for a 3-months subscription with air-mail shipping, and you’ll get it two or three days after its release (or even before it gets released on the market)! How good is that! Better yet, scan it for the sake of us Shugo Chara fans~

Instead of waiting impatiently for the next chapter of Shugo Chara, why don’t you guys discover the vast world out there, the tons of other mangas and animes, or well, Real Life. Do keep in mind that this is a blog, not a manga request forum. Comments are supposedly for facilitating discussion and/or random fangurl raves, not to b*tch about the next chapter. And what do you know, I have work, a life, and other animes/mangas I want to dedicate post(s) for! So please, if you’re just going to ask about the next chapter (especially in a bitchy manner), save your energies and develop the virtue of patience, and understand that I have no obligations whatsoever to do this T__T I can even choose to not talk about Shugo Chara anymore, and you are still in no position to bitch about it! And another useful tip, do subscribe through email updates or through out rss feed, so you’ll know about the site updates and be informed when I actually get to post about Shugo Chara… or not.

Ok, now that I have that out of my system, I can finally talk about this fun-filled chapter! A big thanks to ShiningNinja for providing me the first set of scans for this chapter, and also to Ri-San for pointing out where to find the HQ Shugo Chara chapter 28 scans (and a big thanks to the scanner of course, though I don’t know who she is ^^;;; )

So it turns out that the violin isn’t so magical after all, since Yoru was the one who dragged Ikuto all the way to Amu’s room. Way to go Yoru! Before Amu gets to wake Ikuto up, her father checks her room to see what all the fuss was about, and Amu frantically hides in a blanket… with Ikuto X3

With a hawt Ikuto beside her, Amu wasn’t able to sleep at all. She must have been staring at Ikuto the whole night~ :p Ikuto seems to be dead tired from all that happened so Amu left him in his beauty sleep while she heads off to take a walk with Ami. Yoru wakes up Ikuto after that, and tells him to get rid of the violin because it’s giving him the creeps… it seemed to have a life of its own. Now when Ikuto opens it up, something weird happens and he gets thrown off balance (though much of what happened was still not shown in this chapter).

Amu bumps into this mysterious kid who can also see Shugo Charas, and I just wonder what role this kid is going to play in this arc.

Amu comes home and finds Ikuto lying on the floor, and Ikuto was about to tell her what happened with the violin earlier… but stops midway. Anyways, Amu brings him home a choco-filled taiyaki, much to Ikuto’s surprise that Amu remembers that he likes chocolate (refer to the ice-cream licking scene XD). “For someone who’s mad at me, you actually remember that I like chocolate”, says Ikuto

While I was scratching my head, wondering how the heck Yoru managed to sneak into Amu’s room, it was revealed that it’s because Amu left the window open. Ikuto warns her to keep the window closed, and Amu adds “…so a hentai nekomimi guy won’t be able to sneak inside the room” Ikuto gets naughty and teases Amu that the real definition of a hentai is someone who happily grins as he/she looks at someone sleeping, like Amu. Amu defends herself that she didn’t grin, and Iku continues to tease that this implies that she did “look” at him XDD

Ikuto gets serious not long after that, and decides to take his leave, when Amu gets deredere-ly tells him he can stay for a limited time in her house, considering that he doesn’t really have a place to stay. Before Ikuto can argue about this, Tadase comes and pays Amu a visit O_O

Ami and Hinamori-mama giggle with glee at the sight of Tadase, and Hinamori-mama even prods Amu to take Tadase in his room where they can talk… privately. So there, Amu quickly hides Ikuto in a safe place, before having her private conversation with Tadase. To sum it up, Tadase comes into terms that Amulet Heart is Amu, and confesses his feelings for her. Though in the way he said it, he was actually asking Amu if he can continue on liking Amu despite being his ordinary no-chara-change self. Amu was dumbfounded, and tells Tadase that she’s happy that he felt that way, because all along she thought that she’s been rejected. Ikuto was intently listening while all this was happening. I just hope Amu makes it clear that she likes Ikuto, and not Tadase!! D:

Amu and Ikuto heads to sleep after that (Amu kicks Ikuto out of her bed XD), and Amu continues to think about the real source of the “fluttery” feeling she’s been having since the other day (methinks it’s Ikuto!!). Amu wakes up in the middle of the night, only to find Ikuto beside her again. She tries to kick him out, but Ikuto reasons out that it’s warmer on the bed, and that he’s actually a sick person who needs sum’ love and care~ :p

Ikuto GLOMPS Amu so there’s no escape! Amu accepts her fate of being in Ikuto’s arms, and Ikuto remarks that kids sure are warm. Amu tells Ikuto to stop treating her like a kid because she’s going to be a junior high student in the coming Spring, and Ikuto replies that he’ll be 3rd year high then, making Amu think that really she doesn’t know anything about Ikuto. Through their conversation, we find out that the violin is Ikuto’s father’s keepsake, though Ikuto doesn’t understand why he treasures this violin so much when he doesn’t even remember what his father looks like. It wasn’t clearly stated in this chapter but the Dumpty Key is most likely a keepsake from his father as well.

Amu blurts out that Ikuto is like a rebellious kid; he treats her like a kid, when in fact he’s a kid too. Ikuto then gives Amu a hug, telling her to “Spoil him” like a kid ( aww D: ) I do think Amu’s words got to Ikuto, like she was able to see through him.

Out of sheer randomness, Ikuto talks about Tadase’s earlier confession, which got Amu asking if Ikuto he has a special someone in his life. Ikuto tells Amu that the one he likes is her, but then Amu brushes it off as a joke. Ikuto is saddned that Amu didn’t take her seriously, and thinks of his situation like the boy who cried wolf. Amu drops her tsundere act after seeing Ikuto’s pained expression ;__; (and I just hope she realized that Ikuto was dead serious with that confession).

In some other place, Utau continues her search for Ikuto, and finally senses his presence. Hmm~

The next issue of Shugo Chara won’t be out till April, so here’s this little extra chapter from last month’s issue, while we all wait for that exciting Amuto-filled chapter :3

The three Royal Guardian guys continue their little chit-chat in the Royal Garden after Amu left, where Kuukai applauds Nagihiko for successfully deceiving Amu into thinking that he’s Nadeshiko’s ‘twin brother’. Nagihiko explains that he never intended to deceive Amu, he just couldn’t find the right chance to actually tell her about it. Amu might even think of him as a hentai once she finds out about this, considering they’ve done a lot of stuff together, like… taking a bath together Though according to Nagihiko, he’s been using to seeing such things it’s not really a big deal for him (I think he’s just faking it XD)

Now that Nagihiko has been appointed as the new Jack’s Chair, Tadase goes KING mode and reveals his new role, to become his faithful servant like Kuukai. The KING was left speechless and lifeless 10 minutes after, thanks to Nagihiko’s massage of death

This chapter also gives more insights on Tadase’s Shugo Chara-ness, in that another reason behind this wannabe self of his is because of this inner desire to be a spoiled kid, a fresh change from his usual goody self. Kuukai exclaims with all pride that it’s his responsibility to control this spoiled bratty attitude of Tadase, though I think he also makes it worse :p

Nagihiko gets into some serious Shugo Chara talk, discussing two of its birth patterns. First would be for people who already realized their would-be selves, yet seeks a new self (like Kuukai and Yaya, whose personality doesn’t really change much despite undergoing chara change). Another one would be those who are still looking for what they want to be, whose complete self is realized when they go Chara change, like Tadase and Amu. Nagihiko wonders if the reason behind Temari’s personality is because of his inner desire to return to his guy self

The reason why Nagihiko went back to Japan is for soul searching, since he’s been thrown into a slump after realizing how lacking he still is in terms of his dancing skills. This also explains how Temari reverted back to its egg state, and why he gave birth to yet another egg.

It’s still not certain when these two eggs will hatch, but for now, Nagihiko promises to do his best as the new J-Chair.

After this, Kuukai gets all curious about how Nagihiko feels like when he’s wearing the skirt, and what better way to ‘explain’ this but to have them try it out themselves! Nagihiko was even ready for this, she brought two skirts for Kuukai and Tadase to wear.

And, Amu comes in time to witness all this mayhem looool.

Things have now become peaceful as the Black Diamond saga has come to a close, but of course we all know that the Easter is still at large. So long as the Embryo lives, the Easter will live to search for it. Now in this chapter, we see a glimpse of the Easter’s Big Bad Boss who’s behind all the Egg hunting activities in town, addressed by the name of “Gozen”. His identity is still a mystery at this point, so I have no clue as to who this person is. I had this wild guess that this person is the Guardian’s First King, but that would seem absurd since The First K is all friendly towards Ikuto. And it’s not like Gozen is wearing a mask to conceal his identity… or is he? Oh well enough of that first Let’s allow Peach Pit to work his unveilment magic!

aww… look at Ikuto’s sad face D:

Back to Ikuto, we find out the reason why he has become emo these past few chapters, and the dirty tactics used by the Easter Executive Director, who turns out to be his ‘father’, to get him to do as he says. For sure, that Executive Director Kazuomi-jiji is not Ikuto’s real father, both for the reason that there’s not even a trace of Ikuto’s hawtness in him, and also because of his cold treatment towards Ikuto. And he specifically said in this chapter that he’s just Ikuto’s ‘temporary’ father. We still don’t know much about Ikuto’s parents, whether they’re still alive or what.

About the dirty tactic I was talking about, it’s Kazuomi-jiji’s Violin abduction scheme. He took Ikuto’s beloved violin for ransom to make him dutifully obey his orders, which means that his participation in the past Guardian vs Easter battle was primarily motivated by this. It was also revealed that the Tsukiyomis were born to serve the Easter, which means that the most likely reason why Ikuto desperately wants the Embryo is for him to break free from this destiny.

It might have seemed that Kazuomi outsmarted Ikuto, but Ikuto is way sneakier than that. Yoru manages to get the key to the violin’s storage room, while Kazuomi was busy chitchatting with the Big Boss, so Ikuto proceeds to escape the Easter HQ together with his ever faithful Shugo Chara sidekick. He manages to run past the Easter guards, and hides in this obscure place fan-ny place, when the violin starts acting weird…

Meanwhile, in Seiyo Academy, Nadeshiko comes back from her Europe dance training (this info is in volume 4), though only for the Winter break. S/he finally reveals her BIG SECRET to Kuukai, the third person to know the truth about his Nagihiko identity. So far, only The First King, Tadase, and Kuukai know about this. You can just imagine Kuukai’s shock when he found out; he screamed so loud the entire school must have heard it, including Amu who’s just by the snowy school ground playing with Ami.

Kuukai recovers from the shock, and the First King announces the appointment of Nagihiko as the interim Jack’s Chair, at least until the new semester starts, to fill in the position left vacant by Kairi. Nagihiko was still hesitating over whether to accept this, because of the complicated situation he’s currently in. He is unable to summon his Shugo Chara Temari, and has yet to muster the courage to face Amu. The First King advises him to think it over, because he might even find the answer to his problems in this ‘mess’ he’s gonna get himself to.

Additional info from the extra chapter in this same Nakayoshi issue: Temari reverted to its egg state, though the details of how this happened has yet to be revealed. On top of this, Nagihiko also ‘gave birth’ to a new Shugo Chara egg, who is yet to be born. Nagihiko must have been through some ‘identity crisis’ for Temari to revert to an egg. I also suspect his new egg will be the ‘Nagihiko’ version of Temari, who will be born with a Y chromosome

Thanks to the mischievous hands of fate, Nagihiko was saved(?) from any more worries, as his unexpected reunion with Amu left him with no choice but to accept being the new Jack’s Chair. Amu recognized him as Nadeshiko’s ‘twin brother’ (or so that’s how he introduced himself in their first meeting), and Kuukai was about to blurt out the _secret_ when Tadase quickly follows it up by introducing him as the New J-Chair

As I briefly mentioned in my chapter 27 “teaser” post, Amu was feeling a certain kind of uneasinesss or a vague foreboding of something that’s going to happen. And no, it’s not because of her meeting with Nagihiko, but something far more exciting, and really heart-fluttering. And it’s just lying on her bed…

*KYAAAAAAAAAA* *lets out the fangirl scream she’s been repressing xDDD*

w00t!!!

…the magical violin transports Ikuto here. Talk about being in the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME!

As Amu’s Shugo Charas put it “this is what I call a HAPPENING!” xDDD

To end this post, I just have to say:

Thank You O’ Magical Violin for Granting Our Deepest Wishes~

-Amu x Ikuto fans xDDDD

Ok, so allow me to fangirl as all heavens broke loose when I got to see this mini preview of the next Shugo Chara chapter coming out in Nakayoshi, which is like less than a week away from being released! 8D I owe a big thanks to ShiningNinja for the heads up on this one. Now Amu x Ikuto fans can finally have something _solid_ to look forward to! I know a certain fangirl will be happy to hear this

Addl OMG! My magazine has been shipped! which means I’ll be getting this issue this week! =D

Here’s another page featured in the little preview. As I was hoping for, Amu’s feeling of uneasiness is caused by nothing else but her thoughts of Ikuto who holds the key to hear heart! nyahaha Jokes and own fangirl-injection aside, this is my real summary of this page: Deep in Amu’s heart is a feeling that _something_ is gonna change, after the resolution of her battle with Utau (and the other Easter Egg members). I hope that change is all for the betterment of Amu x Ikuto’s relationship.

Tomorrow, I’ll resume my supposedly planned posts on KimiKiss, True Tears, and Persona. My apologies for the rabid fangirl interruption

Yes! DNAngel is finally on the roll again, after years of hiatus! 8D This is one HUGE celebratory comeback, hence we have a 123-page worth of DNAngel manga goodness for its latest installment. But wait there’s more~! The latest Asuka magazine also came with an Illustrations book containing 20 yummy Yukiru Sugisaki DNAngel illustrations, for its furoku freebie! So yeah, I am sold~~~ I now had this delivered to my officemate who’ll be coming back by the end of February

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this comeback, after Hinano (scroll down to the end of the post xD) mentioned it in brief, about a month ago. Now the wait is over~!

It’s been years since the last volume of DNAngel has been published (2005), though I already lost track of the series wayy before that. I got addicted to this series way back my manga pirating “digital manga” n00b days. As I still wasn’t resourceful enough to scourge for raws/scans that time, the primary source I had for info on the latest DNAngel chapters is the now defunct fansite Yami o Sukasu. Man, I loved that site! ;___; I vaguely remember much of the serious plot developments in the show now, except for the Riku x Daisuke ラブラブ moments, the date scene in the last chapters, and that both Rika and Riku still doesn’t know Daisuke’s Dark persona.

Time to reread~! And relive DNAngel! More Dark Mousy! woohoo 8D More Riku x Daisuke too ^-^

Until I get my hands on this Asuka magazine! Ja ne~!