Maou (2008)

This has to be one of the best series I have ever seen.  The story was just so absorbing and suspenseful.  The central characters were all interesting and magnetic.  A wonderfully delivered plot, plus great performances, plus a smorgasbord of themes, made this an intensely gripping and emotional story. 

The title is literally translated as “devil king”.  That’s because the central character is a lawyer who’s being dubbed as “angelic” for his reputation for clearing accused people who were really innocent of their purported crime.  In truth, though, this lawyer is very carefully manipulating his clients and his entire career in order to stage a vengeance that took him eleven years to plan and execute.  When he was seventeen years old, Manaka Tomoo’s brother was accidentally stabbed by a classmate named Serizawa.  

It all began there.  Slowly but surely with each episode all the events that led up to Manaka’s bitter search for vengeance unfolds.  Death comes one by one to people who were related to the case.  Serizawa, who now has become a police detective, tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding the deaths caused by a mysterious figure called Amano Makoto.  Eventually Serizawa finds out the truth about the deaths that seem to be hounding his friends and family and their connection to the painful past that he has been trying to overcome since the unfortunate incident eleven years ago.  Unfortunately, the tides cannot be turned anymore.  Manaka and Serizawa must confront each other and face the consequences of their actions, and the series comes to an appropriately tragic conclusion.

The series dealt with some very serious themes, including guilt and atonement, closeness to one’s family, loyalty to one’s friends, betrayal, justice, sacrifice, and the redemptive power of forgiveness.  It also had a supernatural element, represented as a psychic ability possessed by Manaka’s love interest.  That particular aspect of the story gave the entire series even more depth because although Manaka finds love and the hope of happiness, he ultimately sees himself unworthy of anything good – love, forgiveness, or joy.  I was truly enthralled by the story, its twists and turns, and the unexpected ways Manaka delivered his vengeance.  He was so dead set on it that he gave up his entire life for the fulfilment of his crusade.  The pacing was excellent, and the characters were all flawlessly portrayed.  I highly recommend this series to all who are looking for something of a detective thriller/mystery, because you will definitely get much more than you expect.  Maou has quickly become one of my most favourite series of all time.  

More information on Maou.

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

Deep in the heart of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Diana Bishop – a young scholar and the descendant of witches – unearths an enchanted alchemical manuscript.  Wanting nothing to do with sorcery, she banishes the book to the stacks.  But her discovery has set a fantastical underworld stirring, and soon a horde of daemons, witches, and other creatures descends upon the library.  Among them is the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire with a keen interest in the book.  Equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense, A Discovery of Witches is a mesmerizing and addictive tale of passion and obsession that reveals the closely guarded secrets of an enchanted world.  (Back cover)

I’m on a short vacation right now, so I chose to read something very light and escapist.  I don’t want to think about anything too deeply, and this book fit.  I’m a big fan of magic in fantasy literature, so I found this interesting enough.  Another thing that I liked about it was that it dealt a lot with books and libraries.  Magic, books, and libraries – a winning combination. 

Although the book is a hefty 718 pages (mass market paperback), the back cover says about all it actually is.  The heroine, Diana, has been living in denial and suppressing her powerful magical abilities since a very young age.  She turns to the world of academia where she feels that she can accomplish much without needing to use any magic.  But she can’t escape her true nature.  So one day, she finds her hands on an enchanted manuscript.  She didn’t know, however, that for centuries all sorts of creatures have been searching for this tome, having each their own desperate agenda relating to it.  So when she opens the book, other creatures felt its magic as well and soon Diana is being hounded by other witches, daemons, and vampires.  And of course, once a vampire enters the picture, we all know how everything will turn out.  Yep, they fall in love.  Surprise, surprise. 

Matthew Clairmont is your average fantasy vampire.  Around and about him the author uses words like enigmatic, magnetic, tall, dark, mysterious, princely, knight-in-shining-armour, and the like.  You get the drift.  This vampire turns out to be scientist, too.  He is very curious about the genetics behind the different creatures out there – humans, vampires, witches, daemons, etc.  Turns out that the book Diana found may hold the key to his search for the answers he wants.  But of course, there’s a whole lot more they have to deal with.  Suddenly Diana is in terrible danger and Matthew then plays the role of protector.  As their relationship progresses, they find that a lot of things stand in the way of their romance.  Matthew carries a whole lot of history with him – 1500 years of it, to be exact.  Diana has to deal with that.  Then a long-ago covenant made between vampires, daemons, and witches actually forbids inter-species fraternization.  Add to that Diana’s raw magical power spilling out of her uncontrollably, coupled with a troubled past that she has yet to resolve.   So our pair has quite a lot on their supernatural hands. 

What made the book as long as 718 pages?  It was something pretty likeable and interesting, actually.  History, literature, and science.  Since the two protagonists are both scholars, and one of them apparently lived through all 1500 years of history, you get a crash course in those three fields of interest as you follow their tale of “the two of us against the world.”   Although the plot is basic and predictable, I did enjoy going through the crash course.  After all, you’d never get your genetics, physics and chemistry, literature, and history classes spiced up by romance, adventure, and suspense in a university course.  There’s an idea.  Why not throw in a magnetic, brooding vampire and a captivating, intelligent witch into a microbiology lecture?  I’m sure fewer students would be falling asleep as the professor drones on. 

So did I enjoy the book?  Yes.  It fit what I was looking for at the time.  I finished it in two days – all 718 pages of it.  Like I said, it’s light and doesn’t really require much of deep thinking.  You just sit back, imagine yourself in the wonderful world of Oxford, or a medieval castle in France, or surrounded by spectacular books in a great old library.  And oh, don’t forget to imagine yourself surrounded by unnaturally gorgeous peoples.  There.  Plus, I enjoyed the scholarly parts of the story, too.  I tend to read very fast when I’m actually having fun with the book.  So if you think all that’s appealing, then try the book and I hope you enjoy.   

Unscene #12

Kaleidoscope

There was blood everywhere – on the walls, on the bed – the carpet had turned into a sick dark brown where it wasn’t creamy blue.  The boy lay down on his side, clutching a toy gun in his hand.  His mother slumped against the far wall, her bloody hair hanging limp down to her elbows.   The steely odour of all the blood filled Sarah’s head.

She took a step back towards the open window to get a breath of untainted air; her foot hit something that rolled away from her.  Sarah stooped to pick it up and saw that it was a kaleidoscope.  She put it to her eye and watched the patterns dance as she slowly spun the tube.  She had always wanted one when she was a child.  She put it down and walked towards the boy, squatting next to him to stare at the ashen six-year-old face.  Should she think him lucky for having had a kaleidoscope?

Sirens and flashing lights came from the window.  Soon enough Sarah heard footsteps running up the stairs.  She stood back and watched as the policemen rushed into the defiled room, checked the bodies for signs of life, and proceeded to start their investigation.  Of course, no one noticed Sarah as she calmly walked toward the window, threw herself out, and rose to glide away from the once-beautiful house.

Chronicle

Tonight I saw a recent film called “Chronicle” directed by Joshua Trank.  It’s one of those unexpected movies that suddenly become really popular hits even though it didn’t have any overhyped superstar Hollywood celebrity cast members, publicity, and all that paraphernalia.  It was pure story – and I loved it from start to finish.

It centers on Andrew, a high school senior who is faced with such a hard life to cope with – poverty, a mother who’s very ill, an abusive drunk of a father, bullying at school, isolation and loneliness.  The one person he could call a friend is his cousin, Matt. 

One day Matt forces him to go to a party.  Things don’t go well for Andrew there and Steve, their popular classmate, approaches Andrew and urges him to explore something that had been discovered in the woods.  It turns out to be a cavern that leads deep underground, tunneling into the earth.  There Andrew, Steve and Matt encounter something inexplicable – an alien object or creature.  Their contact with this object causes the three of them to develop telekinetic powers.  As they explore and experiment with their newfound abilities, getting stronger and becoming more and more creative with it, the friendship and camaraderie among the three friends grow as well.  Things seem to be looking up for Andrew; he has friends now, and he has power.  But it didn’t make anything easier for him and as his troubles continually plague and overwhelm him, he feels all the more alone and desperate.  Andrew starts to lose control and use his power in a very destructive manner.  He succumbs to his despair and lets all Hell break loose in a seething rampage that leads to the story’s inexorable tragic culmination. 

I love how the film is entitled “Chronicle” because the events unfold from the perspective of a number of different cameras, but mostly Andrew’s own.  You see the story from a third party point of view; you are merely an observer, chronicling the events of the developing drama.  In effect, the camera perspective becomes as much a barrier between you, the audience, and Andrew’s world, as it was between Andrew and the harsh realities of his world.  It allowed him to feel detached, isolated, and safe from all the cruelty and the loneliness.

Beautifully imagined and executed, this film is definitely an amplified reflection of this, our world.  This is what happens when people are pushed too far – they break.  It is a glaring commentary on the truth around us – poverty, domestic abuse, bullying, and isolation.  Once people become sunk in despair, they look for something that they feel empowering and they let loose.  Look around at the shooting rampages in schools, bombs thrown around like so many cigarette stubs, massacres left and right.  This movie made me look hard, and let me think about my actions, the actions of the people around me, and so much more.  I highly recommend this to everyone.  See it, think about it, and maybe it will change everything, including yourself.

See the trailer of CHRONICLE

The Thorn and The Blossom - Theodora Goss

The catchphrase says: A two-sided love story.  It literally is.  The book gives you two perspectives; a story told from the perspective of the two main characters who are involved in the romance.  It is bound accordion-style, so that you can read one side of the book and when you finish, flip it over to read the story from the other character’s viewpoint. 

So Brendan and Evelyn fall in love all too fatefully.  The story touches on a Cornish legend, another version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  In the Cornish story, the two lovers are cursed to be separated for a thousand years.  Unsurprisingly, parallels can be drawn between this legend and the situation in which Brendan and Evelyn find themselves.  However, the two of them seem to be having trouble getting anywhere with their relationship for they both have secrets to keep. 

My first impression of the book – very intriguing, especially since I have a thing for fairy tales and Arthurian legends.  Add to that the fact that the binding style was quite different from the usual.  Reading a story from two perspectives had potential, I thought.  After reading the whole thing, I must admit I was just a bit disappointed – just a bit.  The story is nice and all, comforting, easy, not really complicated.  You don’t need higher order thinking skills to get the picture.  But for me, perhaps it was too comforting, too easy, and too utterly uncomplicated, verging on shallow.  I finished reading the whole book (yes, both sides) in about two hours.  I had expected more.  I wanted to see a distinct, more dramatic difference between the two characters’ retelling of the same story.  But no, I just felt like I read the same story twice, and once would have been enough.  The two characters were supposed to be hiding secrets from each other; and while I knew that too much of supernatural hoopla would make the story unspeakably corny, I expected something deeper, much more than what had been given.  For a much better study/example on how perspective can dramatically affect a story, read Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In a Grove.”

I think the format of the book, being accordion-style bound, limited the story as well.  Perhaps having a thicker book bound that way would present problems, so they chose not to put too much plot/character development in the story.  I’m just guessing here.  Oh and yeah, the book had some illustrations – just four.  More pictures would have given the book the needed oomph, and perhaps add to its fairy tale ambience.  Who wouldn’t love illustrated stories, after all?  So if you like simple, easy, light romances, you’d likely enjoy this book.  I thought the book was okay, but not all that impressive or memorable.  I’ve read much better.  I’d give it a 6/10.