Looking Back

Posted on December 8, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

As the year is coming to an end, I’ve been looking back at some of the things I’ve written on my blog. For the last week the most read post on my blog every day has been my review of Christmas is Cancelled, which I wrote last year towards the end of December. It was my most read review for the entirety of last year, even though it was published December 21st, and is the sixth most read post this year. I quite like Christmas movies, but this one was so bad.

Back in May, I started reading the manga, JoJo’s Bizarre adventure. I read the first part and then wrote a post on here. I scheduled it to be posted when I was on the train to go to MCM comic con in London. I put a lot of effort into the post and was excited for people to read it. I had a plan to read more of the manga and write about each part, but never got round to it. When I got back home, after a mixed day out, I opened my laptop and saw that only four people had read the post. I was quite disappointed, to be honest, but quickly forgot about it and focused on other things. Then a few months passed, and I noticed that the post was the most read post of that day, and I clicked onto it and saw that over a hundred people had been on the post, and it gets a few views every day. That’s probably the happiest I’ve been writing on here. There’s a few reviews that I’ve written, that I’ve been really happy with how they turned out, and that’s one of them. Something I definitely want to do next year is read more and write more about it.

I’ve only published one short story on here during 2022, called Best Friends Forever, and I wish that I’d put more up. I finished writing Teddy a long time ago, but haven’t put it on here, mainly because I don’t think people will like it. I’m aiming to get this published by the end of the month, giving me a little bit of time to go over it once more and make sure that I’m completely happy with it. Going forward I want to have one short story out every month. I have a few that I’ve started and more that I have planned, so would like to publish them more consistently.

I have high hopes for a good year in 2023, and want to write more than I’ve ever written before. It would be great for 2023 to be coming to an end and have 12 new stories on here.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

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Nichijou: Volume 1 – Manga Review

Posted on December 7, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Nichijou is a comedy manga written and illustrated by Keiichi Arawi. It’s bizarre, surreal, and silly to the extreme. There’s not an overarching story (at least not in the first volume), just a series of small skits set in a school that feel similar to something like Peanuts, where there’s a bunch of wacky characters that reoccur in the stories and they’re funnier the more you get to know them. I think this would get better with each re-read.

My favourite characters are Nano and the principal. Nano is a robot who doesn’t want her classmates to learn that she’s a robot, but she has a giant key in her back. Everyone knows, and are trying to catch her out. The principal just has the worst jokes, and no one finds them funny. One of the funniest stories is when the principal fights a deer that makes it’s way onto the school site.

There’s a lot of variety in the stories, and to be honest they’re a mix bag as to whether they’re actually funny. Some of them had me laughing out loud, while others I was just waiting for them to be over. Thankfully they’re all only a couple of pages. I have seen parts of the anime version of this, which I think is a lot funnier than the manga.

Nichijou is easy reading, and something that’s best to read in short doses. You can pick up the book and read any random chapter and most of them are funny. It’s really weird, and always takes the strangest option to land the punchline. I’ll happily read more, even if I’m not in a rush to.

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They Called us Enemy – Review

Posted on December 6, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

They Called Us Enemy is an autobiographical graphic novel from George Takei. Instead of dealing with his time as an actor, most of the book is focused on his childhood, specifically growing up during World War 2 and living in an internment camp for Japanese Americans. It’s a horrible story that highlights a really dark part of modern American history. It’s told through the Takei as a child, which contrasts with the way the adults see what’s happening. He sees it as almost an adventure, and it’s only as he’s gotten older that he’s come to understand what’s actually happened. It’s really sad and genuinely moving, tugging at your heart strings as you watch a family being torn from their normal life down to pure prejudice. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about genuine experiences about the internment camps.

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Black Adam – Film Review

Posted on December 5, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers: Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, and Pierce Brosnan

Rating: ★★★½

It’s been a long journey to release for Black Adam. There was news of the character appearing in a Shazam film with Dwayne Johnson attached as early as 2007, with Johnson mentioning it while doing press for Southland Tales. In the years since there has been sporadic updates, and now it’s finally here. Black Adam is one of the better entries to the DC Extended Universe, bringing together a good mix of action, comedy, and a bunch of interesting characters who walk the line between hero and villain.

The champion of Kahndaq, Black Adam is reawakened after thousands of years. Unlike a lot of modern heroes he doesn’t see a reason not to kill his enemies, resulting in the Justice Society to confront him wanting to take him as a prisoner and make sure that he can’t cause any more carnage. That is until they find a common enemy and have to work together to save the world.

Dwayne Johnson is simply brilliant in the role, and every scene with him on screen is great. He’s funny and is perfectly cast for the role, bringing his usual charisma to the film. The film starts in ancient Kahndaq, showing the beginnings of Black Adam’s origin, but the full story isn’t revealed until much later in the film, so it takes a while for you to get a full idea of who he is. The rest of the cast are great as well. It’s always good to see Pierce Brosnan and he’s a great Doctor Fate.

One of the more interesting things about the film is the way it presents the differing perspectives of good and evil, which makes the rather basic superhero plot a little more interesting. The Justice Society believe that Black Adam is a villain, and want to take him down, but for the people of Kahndaq, he’s their hero and the Justice Society are villains. It would have been good to see this leant into even further, as once they find a common goal, they all work together nicely. It’s also weird how determined the Justice Society are to take him down straight away, immediately thinking the absolute worst when their ancient texts don’t exactly reveal much. There’s no understanding or trying to show him that there’s so much good that can be done. It would have been nice for their mission not just to be to take him as a prisoner.

The action is superb, and always entertaining to watch. The final showdown is one of the best in the DCEU, and that’s topped by the fight between the Justice Society members and Black Adam earlier in the film. It’s all visually exciting and there’s a good amount of humour mixed in, whether that’s Black Adam trying out catchphrases or catching rockets in mid-air. What lets it down is the CGI is really mixed, some of it looks excellent, while other parts look dated and awkward, especially when Black Adam first appears.

While it’s not perfect, Black Adam is one of the better entries to the DCEU. It’s fun, entertaining, and not four hours long. There’s also plenty of set up for the future, with a mid-credit scene that has gotten people talking more than the actual film, so hopefully it doesn’t take another fifteen years for the next one.

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My Book Challenge for December

Posted on December 4, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

So far in December I’ve read one book, and am almost 100 pages into another. For December I want to have read at least 5 books. That’s my challenge that I’ve given myself. I’ve read a fair bit this year, but no where near as much as I used to do when I was in school. I’m currently reading The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, which is very different and a lot more disturbed than I was expecting. After that I’m going to be getting Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy when it comes out, so I’ll be reading that next. After that I’m not sure, but I’m hoping that come January 1st I’ll have 5 books read and then I’ll start on a challenge for 2023 of 52 books in a year.

I quite often set myself challenges when it comes to reading, of finishing a book before a set date or reading so many in a month, but I decided to post it on here this time so I actually stick to it.

Thanks for reading!

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