Fan Expo 2009!

This weekend is the big all-in-one comic/anime/gaming/horror event in Canada! Fan Expo will be at the Metro Convention Centre. I'm sure you're all gonna be there in some capacity, either as a cosplayer, a gamer, a shopper, an artist, or even just as a spectator. Feel free to share your Fan Expo 2009 experience on the blog. Just email your convention stories to jason.loo@mississauga.ca. Hope to see you there!

Manga Review: Dazzle

Dazzle is a story about two very different people on a hilarious action-packed adventure. The adventure begins after Rahzel is suddenly kicked out of her house after her dad tells her she should see the world. Along the way she meets Alzeid who is trying to get revenge for the death of his father. While travelling from town to town trying to solve questions about their pasts, they often end up helping others and acquiring new allies as well as enemies.
This manga is in no way a typical shoujo manga- the characters all have very unique personalities, and the story is not completely focused on romance. The story starts off on a light tone, but in some instances it becomes over-serious. At the beginning there seems to be little storyline, but as you keep reading it becomes more clear. The artwork in this book is very stunning. The characters facial expressions look very realistic yet simple. The characters’ clothing is always very detailed and eye-catching. How rare to find characters that regularly change their clothes/hairstyle!
You can find this manga at the library (first three volumes), and at Chapters (first ten volumes). It was also made into an anime (called “Hatenkou Yuugi”).

Review by Liz Z.

Manga Review: Soul Rescue

Soul Rescue is centered around the story of a rogue angel called Renji. Renji only knows how to fight, and as a punishment for being too violent, God sends him to Earth. In order to return back to Heaven, Renji must save 10 000 human souls. God also sends an elite angel called Kaito to watch over Renji and to help him with his mission. Before Renji is sent to heaven, God gives him a special power that will help him save the souls; a power called 'Soul Rescue', which will help to relieve humans of emotional and physical damage.

When I first started reading this manga, I was intrigued with the style of art (which was very detailed and original), and also how smooth the transitions from page to page were. At the beginning of the story, I was fairly confused because it jumped straight into the story without a brief introduction. However, after reading deeper into the manga, past events were explained to give the reader a more clear understanding of the storyline. I also liked how much the manga could appeal to both fans of shounen and shoujo manga. It contained both action and battle scenes (for shounen fans), plus some light romance for shoujo fans. Unfortunately, the library only owns the first two volumes, but I would recommend this for all manga fans! :D

Review by Cianna W.