Manga Xanadu

Momoka Sendou (nicknamed “Dragon Girl”) and Ryuga Kou are childhood friends. Momoka is a martial artist, and Ryuga is a Chinese magic master who banishes demons. In order to increase his power, Ryuga calls on the spirit of a dragon to possess him, but the spirit enters Momoka instead. Now the two must unite forces and fight demons together! By Natsumi Matsumoto Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $9.99 Rating: St. Dragon Girl is a title that has two things going for it. Dragons and a couple that denies their feelings for each other. While the second thing is a bit of a trope for shojo titles, I can’t help having a soft spot for their kind of relationship; the childhood friends who tease, bait and strike back. The female lead of this story, Momoka, has a lot of tomboy traits. Her father is the head of a kenpo dojo, so she is constantly practicing, and is even an instructor. She will take on anyone who threatens her friends, spirits and demons, and even teachers! But she has one weakness; pandas. Ever since she received a stuffed panda as gift from Ryuga, she has…

Well, the most stressful part of the holiday season is over!  Christmas has come and gone, and all that’s left are wads of wrapping paper, stray bows and lots and lots of manga!  At least that’s how my Christmas turned out.  Check it out! How’s that for a good haul?  In fact, I missed a few!  Pig Bride Volume 2 as well as Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 20-21 should have been included in that picture too.  12 volumes in all.  Woo Hoo! Now, while manga is nice and all, and I do appreciate getting the books I did, what I really loved wasn’t something that was purchased but that was made.  My husband works with wood, and he made me these four wooden scroll puzzles, all from oak in different finishes.  Aren’t they awesome? So, what’s you get for Christmas?

I’m gonna take a short break from my manga rantings to rant about another subject near and dear to my heart. Dragons. Yes, ever since my brother introduced me to the Dragonriders of Pern series (the Harper Hall Trilogy to be exact), I’ve been in love with the flying reptiles. I have stuffed dragons on top of my monitor, all the McFarlane’s toys so far, just about any other toy that strikes my fancy and sculptures scattered around the house. So, of course, I like movies with dragons in them too. Just recently, two movies have been released that feature dragons. One I will warn you about, and one I will thoroughly endorse. Dragon Wars aka D-War – This is a Korean movie that was filmed in Los Angeles, and completely in English. It is about the Korean legend of how dragons come to be. They start out as Imugi, serpent-like creatures, that receive the light of heaven, born in the form of a human girl, to become a Celestial Dragon. 500 years ago, the dark imugi Buraki, tried to steal the girl, and she died before the light could be passed on. In the present, in LA, the light…