Honey & Clover

An adaptation of a popular manga series. Honey & Clover follows four art school students and their intersecting love lives. Hagumi has recently moved to the school and is living with her professor uncle. She's painfully shy but shows an amazing level of potential as an Expressionist painter. Architecture student Takemoto falls in love with her at first sight, but has a hard time expressing himself. His friend Ayumi is a ceramics student who manages to befriend Hagu and is in love with Architectural Design student Mayama. Who is in love with his boss at the firm he interns at. Plus there is Morita the wandering wunderkind and some time student who drops back in at the school...

A cute little romance and coming-of-age flick. Nothing that really breaks the mold, but some good, solid acting built on standard story. While it doesn't have any truly amazing moments, it does have more than a few amusing or touching ones...

Sunday Trade: Crogan's Vengeance

Crogan's Vengeance by Chris Schweizer

The concept behind Schweizer's The Crogan Adventures is simple enough. Each volume contains a story of a member of the Crogan family. The tale of adventure is used by a present-day Crogan as a means to entertain and teach his kids. This first volume covers "Catfoot" Crogan, a pirate in the Caribbean at the start of the 18th century...

Catfoot is a seaman aboard a merchanter, with a cruel and petty captain who holds a grudge from Cromwell's day against the Crogans. In fact the pirates that attack come just as Catfoot is being hung on false charges of mutiny. So young Crogan is more than willing to sign on with the pirates alongside the rest of his crew. After that its clever plans to sieze a treasure ship, sword fights and desperate battles. Good stuff...