Fury #1: Fury (2011)

the story took place in a small town, where Em and her friends were on holidays. she had been into Zach for months, but only recently he seemed to finally noticed her. she was excited to spend Christmas with him, but she had a dilemma, because Zach's girlfriend is Gabby, her best friend. at the same time, Chase had been stressing out pretending to be perfect with his poor background. but things got out of hand when he was rejected twice by Sasha, his childhood friend. he did the unthinkable and the result got her killed out of depression. little did they know that every action they took might come back to haunt them, and this time, Em and Chase had been chosen to pay.

the book was a huge tease, with very little revealed until the very end of the book, only to create another mystery all over again to be brought over to the second book. it was definitely interesting and engaging if not for its slightly lengthy chase. the pace slowed in the middle of the book, making the story more dragging and difficult to appreciate. though curiosity won, it could have lost me right there and then. the story played with karma and consequences, with many twists to make it even more delicious. despite the partially bad experience going through the book, i most certainly would continue with its next sequel.

RDG: Red Data Girl (2013) レッドデータガール

despite the modern backdrop, the story was based on the ancient Shinto legends. Izumiko was a young girl raised and protected since birth, in a shrine deep in the mountains. she was shy but had an uncontrollable ability to destroy all electric devices she came in contact with. her guardian recommended her to enter a high school in Tokyo, forcing his son Miyuki to serve Izumiko for life. the relationship between Miyuki and Izumiko was tense, but soon it began to change when terrifying incidents started took place on the school ground.

having such a different plot, the series was interesting conceptually. however after episodes into the series, one couldn't help by notice the increasing amount of fillers. while fillers were important to make an intense series more entertaining by adding some everyday lives of the main characters, or introducing some interesting sub characters. but when having too much fillers, one felt deceived and even unsure with its direction of the plot.

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Luke was a motorcycle racer that travel with the carnival where he had to ride with multiple other motorists in the Globe of Death to entertain the customers. one year after their breakup, the carnival returned to New York, where Luke desperately try to reconnect with his ex Romina. soon he found out that she had carried his child and gave birth to their son. in an attempt to provide for his family, Luke quit his current job and committed a series of bank robberies by applying his riding ability. things got difficult when he came across an ambitious police officer named Avery.

like Drive (2011), the film was awfully slow paced and did quite a messy job with its continuation. it was especially dull for the first half of the film, where Luke was introduced. with a son that appeared out of nowhere, he was desperate to become a good father, yet missing the whole role model part by committing crimes and robbing banks. the chase between Luke and Avery however, was intense and much more engaging compared to Luke's personal life. the most surprisingly part was when Luke and Avery's son became great friends 15 years later. both not having a father figure in their lives, they ended up with drugs and of course, killing each other. can't say we didn't see that coming.

Vassalord (2013) ヴァッサロード

Charley was a cyborg vampire who worked for the Vatican. however, he also belonged to a vampire playboy named Johnny. they fought crime, killed vampires all over the world, even went against each other. but together they made a great pair of hunters. ever since being turned into a vampire, Charley had problem resisting his desperation for blood even thought Johnny happily supplied. for the latest mission, the duo came across a childlike vampire princess that the church seemed to be behind.

despite for being a yaoi, the series had a packed storyline behind it. it was complicated at first with what each of these character did, but soon it was clear that they shared a blood bond much stronger than one another. with Johnny in the middle, Charley had to fight the vampire princess who just woke from her sleep. with plenty of blood, hilarity seemed out of place yet surprisingly entertaining as well.