Manga Review: A House in Venice(SPOILERS!)

A House in Venice or Una casa a Venezia is a one shot mystery manga by Italian artists Giovanni Mattioli and Vanna Vinci. Published by Kodansha this manga is read left to right like traditional Japanese. Taking place in the magical city of Venice(as the title says) the story is about a young art student Rosa who rents a room in an old mansion. She meets her handsome, mysterious, landlord Lorenzo and learns his dark secrets.

A lush manga with Gothic-style art and a gloomy mood. I was hooked to it from the first page. I love Rose and Lorenzo very much. I wish a man like Lorenzo existed in my life...I kind of knew that he was a vampire of something like that from the start since Rosa saw a coffin when she was exploring the new garden, also because when she does meet Lorenzo he later mentions that sunlight bothers him(cliche I know!).

I actually hate most vampire manga including Vampire Knight, I started to hate vampires since Twilight came out people became fanatic over it. Then a weeks ago I read this manga and now theyre not so bad anymore. I LOVE Lorenzo, I am going to find an Italian boyfriend like him one day~Anyway I give this manga 10 out of 10 rating. Vampire fans, Gothic story lovers alike should read it. I hope the artists keep drawing more manga too because I want to read!

Anime Review: Starship Operators

I have been hooked on to Science fiction lately, anything from Gundam(Seed through 00) to drawing spaceships. It is odd because I all of a suddenly love. My addiction recently got me to watch the Space drama anime "Starship Operators"

Starship Operators is about a graduating class of The Defense University of The Planet Kibi. The students return from their graduation trip on the spaceship "Amaterasu". Only to find their home country of Kibi conquered by The Kingdom.

Due to demands of their conquerors the original crew abandons the Amaterasu leaving only the cadets who decide to stay on and fight to free Kibi. To continue its operations they ask. The Galaxy Network for funding in exchange for being allowed to broadcast the ships battles and adventure live as a reality series.

I really like this anime for its strong characters. The main cast includes beautiful executive officer Shinon, Captain Kanzaki, and smart but cute bi-spectacled astronomer Miyuri along with the rest of the characters. I love how strong and determined they all are. I can only imagine how much courage it must take to be able to fight a whole kingdom

The art of this show is cute and futuristic. I love the model of the Amaterasu and its crews outfits.This show is well animated, particularly in its battle scenes. The music features "Radiance" by Kawada Mami as the Opening theme and "Chi ni Kaeru" by Kotoko as the ending. The two songs both sound good and fit the anime very well filling us with a sense of urgency and hope.

All in all I give this anime a 10 out of 10. I encourage any anime fan or a new sci fi nerd such as myself to check it out.