10 Manga for Romance and Comedy Lovers

Since the Japanese themed read is nearly over and the last thing on it is a manga series I decided to dedicate two posts to this art form. Today I will present to you 10 manga series you can read you are a lover of romance and comedy. The list includes both well-known and loved series, as well as personal favourites. 

Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura

Skip Beat is an absolute favourite! The truth is it's massive, 37 volumes have been published and it's still ongoing. But don't be alarmed by this fact, it's one of the best that the shojo genre has ever produced. The story, a simple revenge story at first, is great, the characters are well-developed and it's hilarious. Plus, Tsuruga Ren is one of the best male characters!

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

This manga is also one of the most loved ones. With its 23 volumes is a series that can make you obsessed with it. Apart from its romantic nature, there is also a strong fantasy element in a family curse. The climax is thrilling and it has one of the most interesting antagonists. 

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

A slightly smaller series, with 18 volumes, Ouran High School Host Club is one of the funniest series I have ever read. There were moments when I would just stop reading because I was laughing so hard. The story in this series is amazingly built and the characters are all unique and memorable. Months after I've read it I still remember each one's personality.    

Hotarubi no Mori e by Yuki Midorikawa

Hotarubi no Mori E or Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light is actually not a series. It's a collection of four one-shot stories, one for each season. The second story, the one that shares its title with the volume, is one of the most bittersweet stories ever written. I can only describe it as magical and deeply touching. The rest of the stories are sweet as well and the volume is one of my personal favourites.

Kodomo no Omocha by Miho Obana

Kodocha, as is the shortest version of the name of this manga, is also one of my personal favourites. Older than the previous ones in this list, it's not only a romance but much more like a coming-of-age manga. Only 10 volumes long, we get the chance to watch Sana and Akito grow up and have a wonderful relationship. And they are so cute together!

Kimi ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina

This one is also a massive series, which is still ongoing. The art in Kimi, no Todoke is so amazing! Look how beautiful cover it has! The romance in this series, as a typical slice of life, is slow and gradual, taking things one step at a time. At times, it also feels dramatic, but in general it has a comfortable atmosphere to it.

Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa

At the end of this series, I was crying. Paradise Kiss feels heavy at times and things can actually go very, very badly. The romance indeed is bittersweet and really unique. It has some amazing fashion and diverse characters. George is very complicated, but he is very compelling at the same time.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama! by Hiro Fujiwara

The President is a Maid as it's the English translation of the name is a hilarious manga. It has a strong female lead, which is forced to work as a maid, a "perverted space-alien" who is attracted to her and ex-gang members with soft sides. Have I persuaded you already? Ok, Usui is another reason to read this series and his killer line "just her stalker" can make me laugh without a reason.

Beast Master by Kyousuke Motomi

A short and cute manga. Beast Master is a lesser known manga, but a true gem. It's only 2 volumes, but can put you in a good mood nonetheless. The relationship between the main characters is very difficult, but they are adorable. 

Red River by Chie Shinohara

Red River or Anatolia Story is a historical fantasy shojo manga. A modern teenager is transferred back in time in Anatolia and is saved by a prince. Many of the people and events are drawn from actual history when the Hittite Empire was near its peak. It's definitely a unique and memorable series. 

Have you read any of those? Which ones would you add to the list?

10 Book to Celebrate World Theatre Day

Happy World Theatre Day everyone!

Theatre is a form of expression, unique and demanding. In order to watch a play, you have to live in it, to imagine the surroundings, to feel like the protagonists. So, the work of the playwright is a challenging one and this day it's the opportunity to honour all those who offered their effort into this art form. Here is a list of some popular and classic theatrical plays to check out today.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Who can deny the power of Shakespeare's plays? Hamlet, the story of the young prince of Denmark who sees the ghost of his father, was written between 1599 and 1602. Today it's one of the most popular and most performed plays in the world.

The Misanthrope by Moliere

In contrast to the previous play, The Misanthrope is a comedy. It was first performed in 1666 and it satirizes the hypocrisy of the french aristocracy. This play was adapted several times in the modern theatre. 

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, with important works such as Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabler and The Wild Duck, is often called the father of realism and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre. A Doll's House was first performed in 1879 and tries to criticize the norms of marriage at the time. It was even considered controversial since its inspiration was the belief that a woman cannot be herself in that society.

Miss Julie by August Strindberg

Miss Julie premiered in 1889 and it's a story about the love between Miss Julie, an heir of an old aristocratic family, and Jean, the valet. It is one of the most performed plays in history.

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

The Cherry Orchard is the last play written by Chekhov. It was first performed in 1904 and that production was directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play to be a comedy, but Stanislavski directed it as a tragedy and up to this day those who wish to perform it has to decide which approach they like best.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman is one of the finest American plays in the 20th century. It premiered on Broadway in 1949 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. It's a satirical play about reality and illusion, as well as the American Dream. 

The Caretaker by Harold Pinter

The Caretaker is the first commercial success by Harold Pinter. It was first performed in London in 1960. The play is a psychological study of the confluence of power among two brothers and a tramp. It mixes both tragic and comic elements and that's the reason why it's also described as a tragicomedy.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee

First performed in 1962 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play that explores the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple. The title of the play in a pun of the song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? from Disney's Three Little Pigs (1933) and the couple sings it several times throughout the play. The dialogue in the first act of the play is often claimed to be the greatest in all American theatre.

Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer

Sleuth premiered in 1970. A mystery writer, Wykes, calls to his house the lover of his wife and convinces him to stage the robbery of his wife's jewellery. This proposal has a chain of events that makes the audience question what is real and what is Wykes' fantasy. It was awarded  the Tony Award for Best Play and it was adapted for the cinema several times.

Amadeus by Peter Shaffer

Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer, the twin brother of Anthony Shaffer and premiered in 1979. It's a fictionalized account of the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. It was inspired by a 1830 short play  Mozart and Salieri by Alexander Pushkin. Shaffer himself adapted the script into a screenplay for the 1984 Academy Award Winning movie by the same title.

So, these are some of my favourite plays. Have you watched/read any of them? Which ones would you add to this list?

10 Poetry Books to Celebrate the World Poetry Day

It's World Poetry Day today! That being a great opportunity to honour all those poets, who through their work taught us how to feel. A poem can be very powerful whether it's a few lines long, a haiku or pages long. Dreamlike or realistic, symbolic or satiric, a poem can take all these forms and even more. 

So, in this list you can find some amazing poetry to read today, in order to celebrate this genre.

Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare

This is a collection of the 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare. They had a great influence to the future generations of poets all over the world and are considered as some of the finest examples of love poetry.

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Paradise Lost in an epic poem concerning the Biblical story of the Fall of Man. It was first published in 1667 and it's considered the greatest work of John Milton.

Ariel by Sylvia Plath

Ariel was published in 1965, just two years after the suicide of Sylvia Plath. The poems in Ariel are more personal to the poet and are considered as some of the best poems on the freedom of expression of the artist.

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda

The second book by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was published in 1924. It is a collection of romantic poetry and the eroticism of the Twenty Love Poems caused controversy at the time.

Battered Guitars: Poems and Prose by Kostas Karyotakis

Kostas Karyotakis is a greek poet of the 1920s. His poems embrace expressionism and sometimes surrealism. 

100 Selected Poems by E. E. Cummings

Most of E. E. Cummings work is traditional, bringing modernity to the classic sonnet. They deal mostly with nature and love and are often satirical.

Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie by Maya Angelou

This is the first collection of poems of Maya Angelou, it was published in 1971 and was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. 

Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen

The Book of Longing was first published in 2006 and is a collection of poems and drawings of songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen. It was mostly written at a Zen Monastery on Mount Baldy in California and many of the poems deal with love as a spiritual process.  

The Complete Poetry by Edgar Allan Poe

What can I say about Edgar Allan Poe that you don't already know? He is considered part of the American Romantic Movement and his works contain mystery and science fiction elements. The Raven is one of the most celebrated poems in history.

The Crescent Moon by Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1913. He is one of those that introduced the Indian culture to the west and his poetry is considered highly spiritual.