For this post I’m going to review a book entitled ‘Gold’. It’s a one shot collection with four titles from Wattpad (some of which are unfortunately available since yeah, they’re published). And it’s not just a one shot collection, though. It’s a manga one shot collection! Yes, that’s right, Filipino otakus! REJOICE FOR WE HAVE OUR OWN MANGA! And because it’s a Filipino-made manga, everything is in Filipino. Well, not really that Filipino. Many sentences are in Taglish. And for those who hate grammatically wrong sentences, cry now. (This is the reason why I’m totally disappointed in Viva Psicom-published books, many sentences are grammatically wrong though I understand that they might not want to edit them for the sake of retaining the author’s way of conveying stuff.)
So yeah, it’s published by Viva Psicom, the publisher of Diary ng Panget (DnP) which was made into a film. And yeah, one of the pool of authors of Gold is the author of DnP, “Ate Denny” or most commonly known in the Wattpad world as HaveYouSeenThisGirL.
Edit: I removed Once Upon a Time by A.B. Castueras here, and I will make a review for the whole story when the ending comes! I am also removing all links that lead to the stories in Wattpad. Buy the book instead!
Alyloony’s “Nine Stars” (art by Enjelicious)
Let’s do this story by story. Ah, Alyloony, the author of the well-known series (and now a book) Operation: Breaking the Casanova’s Heart. Nine Stars is about a girl named Claire who really doesn’t believe in superstitions but started doing one (counting nine stars every night in nine days) just because she wanted her crush to like her.
Cliché. Yes, it is your typical “girl got friendzoned” story where the guy she likes doesn’t like her but instead likes someone else. But there is something different in this story (which is the reason I liked it) that is not present in other stories—the way the end was presented. Yes, a guy suddenly marches in the story (Deus ex machina, whut?!). But read the story to know how it feels like to read an ending like that. Haha.
Too many grammatical and spelling errors (which is what I hate) but I was able to tolerate them, though.
As for the artwork done by Enjelicious (I have encountered her artworks somewhere in the internet once, and yeah, I loved it)…SO GREAT THAT IT FEELS LIKE I’M READING AN AUTHENTIC JAPANESE MANGA. Her art is shoujo type so the art style really fits the story. Anyway, I liked the chibi moments. There are lots of them, I promise.
Aril Daine’s “Super Star” (art by Jeff Nice)
Super Star is a story from the author of some of the following mainstream Wattpad works: Sadist Lover series, Fake Lovers, and Life After Marriage. This is a sad love story, but it kinda leaves a scintilla of hope for the reader. Well, this is the type of story where the ending is really up to you. It has an indefinite ending (for me) because it hangs from a word with nothing else after that. It also depends on how you interpret what Chris said in the ending. Just like the former story I mentioned, it’s about two friends. These characters are named Chris and Krissa. However, instead of an unrequited love like Claire’s, they had mutual feelings for each other. Aw, how sweet. Until all of a sudden, Chris enters show business.
Comments…uhm…as usual, more Taglish lines. If you hate it, don’t read it. But there are less grammatical errors, though (I mean, in terms of usage and all so let’s rejoice).
I like the ending. But I have read something else with a similar plot so I think it’s not a good thing. And before I was able to read this, Corinne and I have done something similar with Super Star in our story Ironically.
As for the art, maybe I disliked it a bit because of the lack of shoujo feels (maybe because of the shounen-ish art style, but there are still chibis so yay)…but there’s also lack of detail when it comes to backgrounds (but I do understand that it’s hard to do backgrounds based on experience), but I’ll give some consideration. Anyway, I like the manga version of Vice Ganda. I SAW THE TATTOO SO DON’T TELL ME THAT ISN’T VICE GANDA SO YEAH.
HaveYouSeenThisGirL’s “Waiting for the Train” (art by Enjelicious)
Another cute but sad shoujo story by the author of Diary ng Panget [na si Eya], “Ate Denny”. This is a tragedy so yeah, if you are a softie for these kinds of stuff, be prepared. Anyway, this is not clichéd for a Filipino story (if you’re into Filipino stories, this might be new to you) but if you are an otaku like me (especially if you are into shoujo) you must be tired of train love stories. I don’t know, but I have read tons of stuff where romance starts in a train station (or a train). Stuff that happens in a train—it’s a common thing for Japanese stories, manga, anime, or live action. I suppose this is because HYSTG is also an otaku like me. She mentioned that in her blog. Anyway, good thing this work has only minor errors.
The drawing is cute, given that it was made by Enjelicious (not kidding, the drawing style really is cute), but it lacks the Filipino feel. Remember, the setting is the LRT station, not the Shinkansen. So yeah, it looks more Japanese than it is supposed to. I just hope that the LRT stations will look like that someday. And it is rare for Filipino schools to wear short skirts as uniform, but since it’s manga, it’s kinda fine for them to look like that.
Scores
Nine Stars: ★★★☆☆
Super Star: ★★★☆☆
Waiting for the Train: ★★☆☆☆
Last one guys, please support the Filipino manga industry. This industry needs more of your love, otakus! Even if this industry originated from the Japanese, there are a lot of young mangakas out there who need jobs. SUPPORT THE FILIPINO MANGA INDUSTRY! WOOO! [I wanna be a mangaka too but I’m still in high school so yeah wait for me…]
This is where the post ends! If there are problems with the links, just tell me. You can click on my profile to know how to contact me. Or you can just comment. I’ll post another review if I already have the next volume of Gold! By the way, each copy costs 160 pesos hahaha. So yeah, you can buy it at a local bookstore.
Ja ne~
~Kairu
Two-faced life 