Jun 13, 2011
In shoujo genre, there r limited premises related to a character's situation that form the basis for the story , i.e. acting as a slave because one of the characters knows his/her secret, being a maid to pay off a debt or to earn money,wanting to live alone in an apartment,but then end up living with a guy instead (or in a co-ed dorm), forced to become a fiancee to off a debt, etc... Overused as these situations are, one still continues to read them because of the way these situations are presented.
This manga uses one of such premise, but it's different type of
...
shoujo, dare I say parody shoujo or tries to be. One of its unusual features is that it's not a narrative, meaning we don't read/see the story from anyone's perspective. Instead we see thought bubbles for the characters, and learn the situation from their pov. Another way this manga is unusual (for a shoujo) is that the girl is anti-shoujo. She doesn't blush at all or go doki doki, she pursues the guy with vigor (but it's questionable if it's romantically or lustfully). The guys here is a bit of a tsundre and usually he says out loud w/e he's thinking (not one of those types that secretly like the girl but acts indifferently towards her). Another rare thing I noticed was that the girl may lack common sense but she's acadamically smart, something you don't see a lot of in shoujo.
These are the plus points for the manga. And they all had the potential to built into a great rom com or just shoujo comedy manga. But it was predicatable and jokes/situations weren't that funny.
Story (5)- The main lead is a girl name Homrae, who's been sold off by her parents to a friend (with three sons) to off a debt. One would expect there at least to be a love triangle. But the girl is happy go lucky, obilivous and sexually harasses one of the boys (the tsundre one). She's not good at housework, causes more problems than one can count and actually keeps increasing the debt cus of the damage she causes. After this first chapter, the story was predictable, the guy slowly warming upto the girl and a very small/short love triangle. Other than that there is not really a plot or much of a story development.
ART (6)- It's average, like other shoujos, bishie brothers and the girl is somewhat average. There are not a lot of blooming flower panels, but when they are used, it's usually for comic relief. Ditto for sparkly big eyes. That's one of the reasons the art is good, b/c it uses the cliche panels in a different way.
Character (5)- Homrae is the only insane character, thus comedic situations ensue because of her. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the story is character driven than having an acutal plot. Other characters are also fit into a category so i found them very unoriginal. Except for the main guy lead, he was a mix of a shoujo heroine and tsundere type, so it was fun to see his reactions.
Enjoyment (5)- honestly, it could've been higher, if only cliche situations and jokes would've been funnier. And it would've been rated lower, if the streotypically heroine weren't present. So in the end I enjoyed it somewhat because of Homrae.
Overall (6)- I would like to give it a 5.5, but a 6 also suffices, I think if it would have been cut short (to one volume), it would've made the same impact. After reading 6 chps, I skimmed/skipped three chaps, b/c nothing interesting was happening.
In conclusion, this didn't contain much romance, but tried to have comedy. I only read it because it was a different type of shoujo, though it wasn't that great, it did achieve its purpose to be not so streotypical. I commend the mangeka for trying it and wish more would experiment like her.
Sorry for the long review, but it's sometimes hard for me to express my views in fewer words.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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