[Recommendation] Boku wa Mari no Naka, A Great Psychological Manga

Well, frankly, maybe recommending this manga would spoil a little bit of myself. The genre of this manga is kinda mature, so I only recommend it for the proper age. But it doesn't really mean that... come on... I'm not really... well... never mind. I can assure you that this one wouldn't contain too much mature content. I could say that this manga is full of psychological side and mystery, so it will make you curious till the end.

Now I'm thinking for keeping it posted or not (hahaha). You can judge all you want, but seriously, this is the real deal. The manga itself hasn't completed yet. But it's already there around 60 chapters, so reading it now won't really hurt.

The story is about Komori, a loser guy who lived without any future. He met a high school girl and started to stalk her. But one day, he woke up as the girl, Mari. And that's how the body swapping begun. The most confusing part was when the real Komori was also living like the usual, by all means there were 2 conscious Komori. He then tried to find out what was happening to the real Mari inside the body and himself also.

The interesting part is about the concept of gender-bender/body swap. Usually the body swapping is about 2 soul that swapped to the opposite body. But instead, the boy's soul is passed to the girl's body when the girl's soul is still inside. In my opinion, it may be a case of MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder), but maybe it is not.

It still remains a mystery for what really happen to Komori. And although the plot is a little bit slow to reveal the cause one by one, the story is flowing smoothly, I think. There is also a confusing part when the best friend of Mari is involved. The mature scene only came out in less than 5 times and not really the main theme so they're still accepted. Anyway, please try reading it first. It's quite nice to kill the time.

Have a good day everyone!

Rate: 3.7 of 5

[Intermezzo] Being an Adult #1

I think I know why most women like flowers.

That's because flowers are always delivered in happy moments (e.g Graduation, Wedding, Anniversary).

I think I know why most women like jewellery.

That's because jewellery is such a precious thing that would be given by precious someone.

But there are so many things that I still don't understand. Maybe I am not so mature enough to know it now.

[One Shot] Stockholm Syndrome

“Lakukan apa yang kau mau, karena aku tidak pernah peduli,”

Anak gadis itu merengut ketika aku berkata kepadanya. Ia tidak bisa menerima kenyataannya. Raut wajahnya masih lengkap tergores sempurna dalam hatiku. Ia menahan rasa sakit hatinya.

“Kalau aku akan bunuh diri, apa kau juga tidak peduli ?” suaranya tak gentar.

Aku membalikkan badan, menghadapnya, melihat apakah ia benar-benar serius atau tidak. Ini sudah terjadi untuk ke sekian kalinya, cara tersebut memang paling ampuh untuk menekanku, dan untuk kali ini, aku tidak mau lagi.

“Kau masih hidup atau tidak, memang bukan urusanku,” jawabku, kembali meninggalkannya.

“Nike ! Nike !!” Chloe memanggilku dan berteriak, “ Aku akan bunuh diri !” ancamnya.

“Lakukan saja !” jawabku, menggertaknya. Coba saja, mana mungkin ia yang sepengecut itu berani menghabiskan hidupnya.

“Aku benar-benar akan bunuh diri !!” ia berteriak lagi.

“Terserah !” suaraku menyingkap ketidakpedulian yang begitu besar.

[Recommendation] Webtoon: Lookism

Okay, so these days I'm really into manhwa. What I mean is, I'm not in the mood for japanese manga, and prefer to webtoon, that is the cleaner version of manhwa. It's mainly because the dialogue and storyline of webtoon is delivered neatly. Unlike a book, webtoon is enjoyed by scrolling, just like reading a screenshot of a movie.

There are so many good webtoons that I liked. Can I have a list for it? Alright, let's see:

1. Noblesse (My first love of webtoon)

2. Pinocchio (I totally recommend this one but it's been a long time to me so I'm kinda forgetting the story ㅋㅋ)

3. Tales of the Unusual (A collection of horror stories, not really thrilling but amusing)

4. Vault of Horror (horror stories collection too)

5. He is a High School Girl (It's still ongoing and really funny)

6. 7. 8. So on and on and on...

Actually I forgot the other names and those 5 are the top-list that I keep seeing.

But this post is focused only for one webtoon! The one that makes my heart 'dugeun-dugeun' and waiting like hell.

LOOKISM.

Speaking of the author, I didn't realize at first that the name "Park Tae Jun" is the same person of ulzzang "Park Tae Jun". OMG seriously I knew him since around 2010 when he joined Ulzzang Generation Season 2 and that time I constantly visited his shopping mall, Aboki (only for looking his photoshoot). And this man is really one of a kind. How can a cute, good looking, and business man like him could draw a webtoon? Life is so unfair. And he also could sing, actually. Life is double unfair because of him.

Can we move right to the story? Here is the overview of Lookism:

Speaking of the story itself, Lookism is about an ugly high-schooler that got bullied by his friends and also got discrimination only because of his look. Then, he moved to another school and suddenly had another bodies and could swap it to one another. His other body is a strong and super good looking, so he got into a new school with that body. His new school is no different with his previous, the bullying was happening too.   But with his new body, he's living a new life. He got friends, girls were surrounding him, and he also tried to defend the bullied. Later, he was on his way to change himself by his experience in that new body.

There are so many plus points for this webtoon actually. First of all, the hot good looking character. How could I say this... They are handsome, strong and young, so why should I miss it? Then, they really know how to fight. It seems like school is for fight only, I think. But the people around Hyungsuk, the lead character, are really good people. I don't know, somehow it's really amusing and worth reading.

Second, the plot is really comical and heart-warming. I remembered laughing and sobbing while reading it. It has a perfect balance for everything, seriously.

Then, this is a really mega plus point for this webtoon. I got shocked when I found out about it. Park Tae Jun, you... Ah...

The character for this webtoon is based on a real people in the real world. That Park Hyung Suk as the lead is potrayed according to the model of Aboki with the same name. He is an ulzzang. For you who don't know the meaning of ulzzang, it's for good looking boys and girls in internet, shortly, they are like a internet celeb who get recognition by their looks.

When you're already fallen love with the character and then you found out there's someone out there with a figure just like what you dreamed...  You know how it feels, right?

Not only the lead character, I thought every character in the story is based on real people. The setting itself is also following the trend. It's like enjoying real people's story in real world, seriously. Yeah, like reading someone's diary. For example, the author put the real idols like BTS in conversation and girlgroup 2EYES performing PIPPI song.

And one more thing. Did you see the ads for Line Webtoon on Youtube or TV? Yes, it shows the live action version of Lookism. In case you didn't realize it, here is a screenshot of it:

It would be great if those popular webtoon, such as Noblesse and also Lookism to have a live action, in anime version or maybe a drama. Anyway, seeing Lookism was chosen as one of the Line Webtoon's ads, it means this webtoon already gained a big popularity.

Actually, I didn't follow the chapters via the app, because in my country version, it goes really slow while the original already passed more than 50 chapters. I choose to rely on online manga sites that releases faster.

At the end, I really reccommend this one. It's perfect for girls or boys, with a full package of everything and totally interesting. I simply lack of words to explain it, though.

It's 5 of 5 stars for everything with a freshly big heart from me.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T EVER MISS IT, OKAY?

Have a good day, everyone.

[One Shot] A Piece of an Introvert's Diary

Kupikir pada awalnya, tidak ada yang mengerti jalan pikiranku. Ya, mereka semua tidak tahu.

Kalaupun ada seseorang yang berkata memahamiku, mereka tidak tahu apa artinya itu. Bagaimana semua ini bagiku, bagaimana aku melihat semua dalam persepsiku sendiri.

Terkadang aku merasa peperangan ini seperti aku melawan seluruh dunia. Dicari ke ujung bagian manapun, tidak ada yang bisa bersekutu denganku.

Aku bertahan pada sebuah pijakan batu kecil dan menopang diriku sendiri. Selagi mereka semua berjalan dan bergerak, aku diam tak bersuara. Hanya bayanganku yang mengekori gerakan mereka. 

Perlahan, beberapa menghampiriku dan bertanya-tanya. Tembok besar menghadang mereka dan jawabanku selalu sama.

Diam. Tertawa palsu dan kembali diam. Mengalihkan pembicaraan kalau memang dibutuhkan. Karena semua orang suka membicarakan diri sendiri, maka berikan pertanyaan mengenai kehidupan dan masalah mereka.

Tembok itu tidak akan runtuh. Untuk sekian lamanya, tembok itu kokoh berdiri melindungiku. Pijakanku masih berada pada tempatnya. Aku, sekali lagi akan selamat dari arus mereka.

The Tendency as an Aries person

I read an article when I was in middle high school. It said what kind of stories that someone should make based on their horoscope.

I am Aries and it's written that I should be more focus on short stories, because we tend to easily get bored with one idea.

And years later, I could agree with that. I tried myself to create a long-term project but it always stuck in the middle. I might have tons of incomplete titles, with a lot of revisions and still haven't completed yet.

But when I made a short stories, I kinda feel enjoyed. It didn't really need a long time to finished it while I was getting busy with another idea.

I'm only saying that the article is right. Whoever the author of that article, he did a great analysis and I could related to it.

And I actually had a long story on hold. It's really hard to me to get in a right mood for one title and... Yeah, it hasn't been completed. I'm a little confused about the ending. Maybe it won't get published anyway.

Ah... I'm terribly sorry...

[One Shot] Life in a Scattered Puzzle

Wesley melingkarkan sebuah scarf ke leherku untuk menghalangi udara dingin yang luar biasa menusuk hingga ke tulang. Aku memperhatikan pria ini dan tiba-tiba tersenyum. Dia menyadarinya dan bertanya, dan aku menjawab tidak ada apa-apa.

Wesley, apakah kau benar-benar menyukaiku? Sangat menyukaiku sampai kau rela menyerahkan scarf milikmu dan menahan udara dingin ini agar aku tetap hangat? Apakah perhatianmu kepadaku yang berlebihan selama ini adalah bentuk perasaanmu? Wesley, bagaimana kalau aku berkata kepadamu,

Aku tidak bisa menyukaimu sebesar kau kepadaku.

Wesley membawaku ke sebuah tea saloon. Dia tahu kalau aku tidak menyukai kopi meski dia adalah penikmat berat kopi. Terkadang aku berkata kepadanya kalau tidak masalah kami mendatangi coffeeshop, namun Wesley menolak. Dia juga hendak mengurangi konsumsi kopi, menurutnya.

Apakah kau tidak tahu semakin sering kau memaksa dirimu untuk menyesuaikan denganku, semakin berat beban ini harus kupikul?

Dia memesankan darjeeling tea untuk kami berdua. Aku memperhatikan caranya meminum teh. "You're not supposed to put a lot of sugar in your tea," ucapku.

Dia menatapku. "It's plain," dia mengecap teh tersebut, "And a little bit bitter,"

"But it's less bitter than coffee," aku hampir tertawa.

"Ya, dan aromanya juga sangat menarik," aku senang Wesley nampak menikmati tehnya.

Aku dan Wesley menikmati udara dingin di luar sambil menghangatkan diri dengan secangkir teh. Kami membicarakan banyak hal dan memikirkan banyak hal juga.

"Kalau kita menikah nanti, kau ingin tinggal dimana?"

Aku terkejut namun mencoba menutupinya. Menikah dengan Wesley tidak pernah menjadi keinginanku, meski Wesley adalah pria terbaik yang pernah kutemui. Walaupun dia merasa cocok satu sama lain, aku tidak berpikir demikian.

"Aku suka sekali daerah pegunungan seperti ini," ucapku sambil memperhatikan pemandangan di luar.

"Apakah aku sudah harus menginvestasikan sebuah rumah disini?"

Aku meliriknya. "Tetapi tempat ini sangat jauh dari kantormu," dan jauh dari perkotaan.

"Ah, begitu ya? Lalu bagaimana?"

Pertanyaan ini mengarah ke hal-hal yang sangat kuhindari. Aku tidak ingin memberi harapan palsu kepadanya. Tetapi aku juga tidak memiliki jawaban dari pertanyaannya.

"Let's not think about it and focus on our present," elakku.

Wesley nampak kecewa. Sepertinya dia mulai merasakan bahwa aku tidak melihat masa depan bersamanya. Ya, kalau dia berpikir seperti itu, dia benar. Sayangnya dia tidak pernah menanyakannya kepadaku.

"Good night," ucap Wesley setelah mengantarkanku ke depan pintu studio milikku.

"Good night," balasku.

Dia mengecup dahiku dan melambaikan tangannya kepadaku selagi berjalan pulang. Aku membalasnya dengan sebuah senyuman kecil sampai dia tidak terlihat lagi dari penglihatanku.

Setelah selesai mandi dan bersiap tidur, seseorang mengetuk pintuku. Kupikir orang itu adalah Wesley. Dia sering melakukannya dan berkata bahwa dia sudah merindukanku meski baru beberapa menit berlalu.

Tetapi siapa yang kutemui di hadapanku kali ini bukanlah Wesley. Seseorang yang tidak pernah kuharapkan untuk datang kini berada tidak lebih dari 30 cm di depanku.

Dengan wajah sendunya dia langsung memelukku tanpa izin. Di pelukanku, dia menangis dan tubuhnya gemetaran. Aku mulai mengerti apa yang terjadi kepadanya.

Berapa kali kau harus mengalami patah hati?

Saat duduk di sofa, dia mulai menceritakan masalahnya. Benar saja dugaanku. Dia baru saja putus dengan seorang wanita yang kuingat bernama Claire. Setidaknya hubungannya kali ini sudah berjalan lebih lama dibandingkan sebelumnya. Namun semakin lama hubungan mereka, semakin lama pula curhatannya.

Katakan kepadaku, berapa lama lagi kau ingin terpuruk seperti ini dan tidak pernah melihat keberadaanku di sisimu?