Ranked #203

Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume (Manga)

= Story =
- This story is fairly slow. The development is slow. I'm not one to like slow plots, but 'Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume' is a definite exception. At the end of the story (82 chapters + side stories), the mangaka says so herself that the development was meant to be slow which makes me love it even more b/c she knew what she was doing.
So the plot is just the 'go with the flow' type of plot (Fairy Tail). Uru starts working at Bouheur cafe along side Nakamura Ichiro and Shindou Satsuki. Things just go with the flow from then on out. The plot is pretty basic, though there's not really a solid plot to begin with, so you don't need to think much with this Shoujo manga. So yeah... simplistic, yet quite enjoyable. -

= Art =
- I absolutely LOVE Matsuzuki Kou's art style. ALL her males characters are either extremely cute, drop dead gorgeous, or both. If you look at her different outfits for each character, you can see her range of ideas as well. The reason I gave art a 10 though is b/c most of he characters look the same. I mean, some make sense. Esp. if they're related (brother, cousin, father, mother, etc.) But either way, most of them look too similar and there isn't really anything differentiating them so you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if 2 similar characters were wearing the same outfit. But I really love her art. So as a manga reader, I give her a 9. As a person who is envious of her skills, I give her a 10. -

= Character =
- There are quite a bit of characters in here. However, you have a real connection to the majority of the characters to you can remember they're names pretty easily. The development, again, is rather slow. Uru is slow. She's thick headed, naive and ignorant. I use all those words to describe people like Inoue Orihime, but I really like Uru. She can get a bit nosy here and there, but she's really likeable. Shindou... oh my good God. You can't dislike the man in any way. You can't help, but love him. Ichiro is the oddest of them all, but of course that makes him the easiest to love.
There is one thing about this manga that you may want to know.
Uru literally has pursuers EVERYWHERE. There are... 4 people who love her (in the romantic sense) and there are the others who love her (in the 'I want you to marry _______' or friendship sense).
The characters' back stories are also quite tear jerking. After you learn a few things about each character and then there's a side story about them, you can't help, but tear up. I've read this manga 3 or so times and I always tear up each time. They impact me even after a few weeks of reading it. So again, slow character development, but it works. The characters are lovable and adorable and ... oo-la-la. I really love them all. -

= Enjoyment/Overall =
- I was a little scared when I first read this. The genres are comedy, romance, Shoujo and a few others, but those are the main ones. Romance in Shoujo mangas are... questionable in terms of reality. This manga was slow, hence emphasizing key points in human interaction and emotions. Romance played a role here and there and the comedy was everywhere.
I obviously enjoyed this very much and I would STRONGLY recommend this to anyone who needs a good read to kill time. Really, really loved this.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention (if you've read this far); the ending is sweet, but there isn't really much closure. The mangaka says a few things about the characters, but i kind of wish the ending was similar, or gave more insight into the future, like the ending of Fruits Basket. though the ending was adorable, I still have so many lingering questions and thoughts. - read more

=Story= 8/10

The story is funny, sweet and quite episodic. Setting wise it centers on the man heroine, Uru's working life at a cafe. Generally all characters love Uru very much however she is not romantically conscious (at least for a long time). The sparks between love rivals is funny but at times I thought it was repetitive. Also I did think that too many characters (madly) love Uru but again there's less angst thanks to that and that suits the story more.

=Art= 7/10

It's pretty well done (nothing impressive however) but the only point I dislike is that sometimes the characters look so similar (setting wise I know they are supposed to be). The differences are subtle that makes it hard to distinguish characters.

=Character= 8/10

The characters are well done however because many of them like Uru, it sometimes feels like they have similar traits. I like especially how Uru is not a typical shoujo heroine - she is set as a character that brings warmth/happiness with her smile. I also like how our main three characters seem to have a warm family-like relationship with some subtle romances between them.

=Overall Enjoyment= 8/10

It's definitely a good light-hearted shoujo manga to read (especially when there are so many shallow ones out there now). Worth a try if you like sweet and warm interactions between the characters. read more