Artsyfutsy's Blog

Sigmund Freud. Florence Nightingale. Napoleon Bonaparte. Marie Curie.

A single look through these names and many would recognize them. They are the names of famous people who have left behind their marks in history through their contribution to humankind in their fearless exploits and groundbreaking discoveries.

Enter the world of St. Kleio Academy, where the clones of these famous historical individuals are raised and educated to inherit the legacies of their originals. Stuck right in this bastion of genetically engineered students is Shiro Kamiya, an ordinary boy whose father is a teacher in the academy. Being a non-clone, Shiro finds difficulty fitting in with the rest of his elite schoolmates, who see him as an anomaly in their freak show of a school. And while Shiro is struggling to integrate himself into the school’s social pyramid, tension begins to build up within the campus walls as the wheels of fate are set in motion with the assassination of one of the alumnus, the clone of the former President of America, J. F. Kennedy.

Through the lives of these clones, Suekane Kumiko explores the consequences of the highly controversial technique of cloning in this manga. This is not the first series that has a cloning-based theme (Clone High, anyone?), though what sets it apart from others is its plot. Chock full of suspense and mystery and equally balanced with humorous moments, this manga is one that has much potential. While it is not as action-packed, fans of Fullmetal Alchemist or D.Gray-man would definitely like this manga, which has similar psychological themes.

Another plus point of the manga is that the characters are fairly well-developed. Though, as with every campus-set stories, there will inevitably be a few stereotypical characters –the typical stuck-up-her-nose beauty queen, for example–, readers will be glad to know that the main characters have at least a certain depth to them. Shiro also makes for an atypical protagonist; he is an ordinary –and somewhat of an airhead– boy with no special abilities or particularly redeeming trait, unlike the protagonists of most stories which usually have some enhanced ability of some sort to help them (though, as seeing the story is set on campus, having magical powers would be rather redundant).

All in all, this manga is a well-developed one that is truly worth a read. Educational and thought-provoking, the book would definitely leave a lasting impression on the reader. Though this series is rather new and it might be a little too early to say that later chapters will definitely turn out well, the manga certainly has the potential to become another hit.

Interested readers can go to this site to read the manga (quite a pity but Onemanga and Mangafox do not have the series): http://www.sigikki.com/series/afterschoolcharisma/index.shtml

And as for Singaporean readers, you’re in luck! Chuang Yi Publishing has already printed out the translated version of two volumes – you can get a copy at SGD8.90 (expensive, I know) or go to a manga café to read it.

Have a nice day and happy reading 🙂 

~e3m1n

A Blood Pledge (2009) is a horror movie directed by Lee Jong Yong. It is the fifth in the series of South Korean horror films set in an all-girls high school, which began from ‘The Whispering Corridors’ (1998). The cast of the movie consists of: Son Eun-Seo as SoYi, Jang Kyeong-Ah as EonJu, Oh YeonSeo as Yujin, Song Minjeong as Eunyeong and Yu ShinAe as Jeongeon (EonJu’s younger sister).

The movie deals with taboo issues such as parental violence, teenage pregnancy, bullying and betrayal. Blood Pledge is about four students who swear their friendship with a blood pact and promise each other that they will die together. The movie starts with a gruesome scene where EonJu is being flung down from the roof of the school’s chapel and her body lands right in front of Jeongeon. Jeongeon decides to investigate the cause of her sister’s death and learns about the blood pact. At the same time, EonJu comes back to haunt the rest of her friends as her other friends did not follow the promises they made written on the pact.

The director did not really go into depth about the taboo issues and only show glimpses of how these issues can affect one’s life. Also, a shortcoming in the movie was that the plot was neither here nor there, and the ending of the movie was not really convincing, hence leaving audiences unsatisfied with the movie. Another flaw in the movie is that the time sequence was really poor. There were numerous flashbacks in the movie which made me confuse about what was happening in the movie.

Shortcomings aside, I think the director should receive some credit for the ambience created in the movie. One of the most common camera technique used was the ‘sweeping’ technique where the camera sweeps across the roof, catching views off guard as EonJu’s ghost suddenly pops up in front of the camera. The ominous, eerie orchestral music compliments the camera techniques used. There is not much to expect in the physical appearance of the ghost as this movie also follows the trend of stereotyping Asian female ghosts as those with dark long hair and pale skin.

This South Korean film has been sold to distributors from South-east Asia and it has also been reported that there might be possibilities of remakes of the film.

A Blood Pledge is great for those who are looking for a movie to give them a slight shock or a nightmare, however if you are looking for a more in-depth horror movie, it would be advisable to give this movie a miss.

You can watch the official trailer  here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yutvPl3ohWI

Rating: 5/10

-Miriam