[FIRST IMPRESSION] Alice and Zouroku アリスと蔵六

Plot:

A mysterious girl named Sana has escaped from a top-secret research facility. With her captors in hot pursuit, she runs away to Shinjuku, where she comes across an old man named Kashimura Zouroku. Zouroku has a bad temper and a distaste for trouble, so when Sana starts talking about ‘wishes’ and ‘deals’ he immediately decides to stay out of it.

But he isn’t given a choice.

He and Sana are attacked by other children from the facility, which leads to Zouroku being taken into police custody for questioning. The whole incident is covered up to hide the existence of magic, and despite his initial reluctance he decides to give the girl a temporary place to stay. Although, the danger isn’t over yet…

[FIRST IMPRESSION] Tamen de Gushi 她们的故事 Chapters 1-10

Plot:

Tamen de Gushi is an ongoing manhua by Tan Jiu, first published in 2014. With currently over 100 chapters, it tells the story of Sun Jing, a hopeless lesbian infatuated with a girl she saw at the train station. Sun Jing and her group of friends are the troublemakers of her school, playing pranks and getting sent out of class. But all that bravado melts away when confronted with beautiful women, and when Sun Jing approaches Qiu Tong at the station to get her number, she freezes and runs away. Determined to at least talk to her, she waits at the same spot, hoping that they’d meet again.

[FIRST IMPRESSION] Pan de Peace パンでＰｅａｃｅ

Plot:

Based on a four-panel series from the mangaka, emily, Pan de Peace is a slice of life anime, which follows Minami and her classmates as they share their love of bread. Minami is especially nervous on her first day of school, not recognising anyone in her class. Fortunately, she spots Yuu, a girl with bread charms on her bag. They instantly strike up a conversation, which is interrupted by Fuyumi, who had brought her own baked goods from home. Minami dubs their group ‘Bread Buddies’ and they bond over their shared interest.

[FIRST IMPRESSION] Bakuon!! ばくおん

Plot:

Sakura Hane is a young high school student, soon to be 16. Ditzy and naïve to a fault, she isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the box. But as she rides her bike on the first day of school, she witnesses Amano Onsa on her motorcycle – which are legal for over 16s to drive. Onsa sees her potential, and tries to recruit her to join the motorbike club, but there’s one problem- Sakura’s bike is just a regular bicycle and she doesn’t have her license yet.

Kiniro Mosiac [Kinmoza!] きんいろモザイク「きんモザ」

I first stumbled upon Kiniro Mosaic, or Kinmoza! for short, on a YouTube video just over two weeks ago. It was a recommended video which compiled a collection of English spoken in Japanese dubs, and naturally as an English speaker I was curious (procrastinating revision was also a key factor). To my absolute surprise, there were British people! As a Brit myself, it gets a bit tiring seeing most Westerners being represented by America so to find a series where British people existed outside of a historical setting – I’m looking at you Kuroshitsuji – was very welcome. I pretty much binge watched all 24 episodes over the space of four days, finding myself drawn in instantly.

Two cultures collide as we follow the escapades of Shinobu Oomiya, a Japanese high school student obsessed with anything foreign, but mostly blonde hair! A few years before, she had gone on a homestay in England and befriended a blonde girl named Alice Cartelet. To Shinobu’s surprise, Alice turns up at her school as an exchange student. She’s closely followed by Karen Kujo, a biracial girl with both English and Japanese heritage… and blonde hair. Shino’s long suffering friends, Yoko and Aya, have to handle her obsession and all five of them navigate high school together. It’s a case of weeaboo vs. teaboo as West meets East, complete with culture shocks, homesickness, and language barriers.