A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Tomoe, Takigawa Houshou #atozchallenge

Who wouldn't want a beautiful fox demon as your servant? A handsome and powerful fox that caters to your every whim.  In Kamisama Kiss, Tomoe was once a wild fox that became a familiar to Mikage, the Land God.

But that is not where the story begins. It begins with a homeless girl receiving the powers from Mikage (mee-kah-jay) and the chaos that ensues from a mortal becoming a land God.  Tomoe (toe-moe-ay) hates the thought of a human at the shrine but Nanami (nah-nah-mee) takes no bull and forced him back into servitude with a kiss.

The rest of the series has a bit of a reverse haremish group of gorgeous and handsome demons with a back story of hundreds of years and a complex timeline I will not even try to explain. There are misadventures with gods, sea creatures, tengu, and other various immortal beings.

Tomoe has the ability to come off as hateful and cold, arrogant, prideful, and elegant, but he has his moments of childish jealousy and other moments where you can see the hurt, vulnerability, and soft heart he hides away from prying eyes.

🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

Takigawa Houshou is the guitar-wielding monk of Ghost Hunt. He left his temple home to be a bassist in a band before going back to become a full time monk.  He uses his spiritual powers as a side gig to help people.

Characterwise, he is laid back but can be serious when needed.

We first meet him as he was hired by Mai's school to exorcise the spirits along with Naru, Lin, Ayako, Masako, Father John Brown. He becomes one of the regulars of SPR (Shibuya Pyschic Research.

As a monk, he is strong and can lead the group when Naru is incapacitated. 

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Lin Koujo, L, Light Yagami, Loke #atozchallenge

What can I say about my first L listing? He is an onmyōji with five shiki (spirits or demons that are linked to him by magic and are his servants). He works for a seventeen-year-old as both guardian and assistant. He is Chinese.  His name is Lin Koujo from the Anime Ghost Hunt.

Quiet and taciturn, he is the one who stays up at night to monitor the computers and cameras when out on a ghost hunting case.  He doesn't like the Japanese because of personal reasons.

He is a powerful Onmyōdō practitioner who can summon a spirit to answer questions or protect using his shiki.

🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁

Loke is a member of Fairy Tail. He is the ladies man, but he has a problem with Lucy at first, which is strange to the other members since she is beautiful. His past is mysterious and he's an enigma.

  He suddenly leaves the guild and says goodbye to Lucy, she at first thinks it's a line, but then realizes that he was telling the truth.  When she finds out what he is and his punishment for it, her determination saves his life.

  Loke is Leo one of the Zodiac Celestial Beings.  He stopped his wizard from summoning her other celestial beings because she mistreated them.  She died as a result. He forms a contract with Lucy.

🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖

Light Yagami and L are the Yin and Yang of Death Note.  Light becomes Kira, one who brings justice to the world with his Death Note. L is the genius detective wanting to stop him.

Light and L dance around each other in this dark death match. One a high school student the other an eccentric who eats sweets and constantly looks like he's been on a three day bender.

This duel between them goes on back and forth for much of the show and manga. It ends as one could expect, one dies and the other continues on with his mission.

(And y'all were thinking I was going to actually say who wins. Nope. For those who have seen it know, and for those who haven't, well, I left that as a surprise.)

UPDATE TO A TO Z CHALLENGE V POST

As I cannot leave the unknown alone, I took it upon myself to contact the B.S.P.R. (Society of Psychical Research) about E. Tisane.

Lo and behold, they replied with an answer to my question!

The nice person who received my inquiry went out of his way to find out the answer.  He even contacted France.

The following is the direct quote from the lovely man:

heard back from the chair of our Spontaneous Cases Committee, and he says that Tisane was real:

The reference is to Emile Tizane author of Sur la Piste de l’Homme inconnu (1951) (On the track of the unknown man) a French police officer who studied records of poltergeist cases in police records and attempted to classify the different categories of phenomena.


So HE WAS REAL!! SQUEE!!!

Thank you, S.P.R.!!!

UNDERRATED TREASURES BLOGFEST!

Today is a world of Underrated Treasures, Peeps.  Brought to us by the awesome Alex J Cavanaugh.  These are things I love despite their obscure nature.

First off is the movie Slipper and the Rose.  This movie was made in 1976 and stars Richard Chamberlain.  Yes, I mean the Richard Chamberlain of Thornbirds and Shogun fame.

It takes place in 1700s Europe in a fictional country called Euphrania.  They need a political alliance with a larger nation to survive, but the Fairy Godmother has other plans and introduces Cinderella to the prince.

The landscapes are beautiful and the costuming!  The stunning array of knee breeches, embroidered coats, waistcoats, and even the lawn shirts is only rivaled by the OH-MY-GOD-I-CAN'T-BREATHE corseted bodices and pannier skirts during the ball scene.  Also the epic powdered wigs come out to haunt us with the premature aged effect along with those great beauty patches that look like ginormo -- I don't even want to say it. Hee hee.

It follows the Charles Perault version of the story and it is a musical.  Wait!  Before you run off to the hills in terror, let me tell you it's not like Rogers and Hammerstein (although the Disney version with Brandy wasn't bad).

Plus, it deviates from the original story.  Le Gasp!  Ol' Cindie is sent away!  In actuality, that is my favorite song.  Tell Him Anything is the "Get-Him-To-Hate-Me song, sacrificing her happiness for the good of her nation.  So rather than have the prince hate his father, she wanted the blame to be put on her.

It may have the gouda, cheddar, and colby jack moments, but who wouldn't want to see old men in froufrou with bouncing curls as they sing about protocol.  Heh heh heh.

Oh Ji Ho as Song Tae-ha

I have two tv shows that are underrated. First, Korean Dramas are underrated in general because you have to have the patience to read subtitles. Only I'm not talking about Boys Over Flowers, To the Beautiful You, or Playful Kiss.  Nope.  Those are some of the most popular ones.  I'm talking about Chuno specifically.

Chuno, or Slave Hunter, is a historical drama that has everything that makes for great watching: love, death, friendship, comedy, drama, romance, betrayal, epic sword battles, loss, and some gorgeous eye candy for those of the feminine persuasion.

Its about a nobleman who becomes a slave hunter, a slave girl that becomes a noble, and a man on a mission to save a prince.  Along the way, their paths cross in a complex interwoven web.  From court intrigue, assassinations, battle sequences, beautiful music, and a Romeo and Juliet-esque back story, this show is definitely underrated.

The Ghost Hunt Crew

The second is the anime Ghost Hunt.  I know a lot of animes are super popular.  Dragonball Z, Black Butler, Hellsing Ultimate, Sailor Moon Crystal, Sword Art Online and S.A.O II are just a few.

This is a manga/anime series based on a book series written by Fuyumi Ono.  (I want to read them so bad!!)

The series is about a teenager named Mai Taniyama who finds a video camera in an abandoned school.  She ends up causing an accident where the camera breaks and a man is injured.

Naru (as she calls him) hires Mai as his assistant while Lin, the injured man, recovers and to pay for the camera she broke.  She finds out that they are using equipment and experiments to find out if the school is haunted.  Think something along the lines of Ghost Hunters.

Lo and Behold, the principal who hired Naru also hired a monk, a miko (priestess), a spirit medium, and a Catholic priest.  This motley crew make up the assemble cast of the anime.  It's kinda like one of those bar jokes.  A monk, a miko, and a Catholic priest walk into a bar . . .

It's underrated because the book series did not get fully manga-ed or animated.  So there are missing story lines and hidden secrets still unrevealed -- well, unless you google them and read all those lovely spoilers.


Lastly, I want to talk about a book called Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde. It's not your typical

dragon story.  No, this dragon doesn't eat the girl; he helps her get revenge.
DU DU DUN!!

I love this book for the characters and how they tolerate but not trust each other.  Reading how Selendrile manipulates, pokes, and prods Alys to do things. Alys, on the other hand, learns that there are many shades of grey.  Even the dragon learns a thing or two by the end of the book.

It doesn't contain the insta-love or love triangles or, in some cases, decahedrons that newer YA seems to have.  Nope.  This book has more animosity between the main characters than anything.