16 Life

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I got bored one day and decided to read a random manga. This is how I came across 16 Life. The story was enjoyable and the plot was entertaining, but the girl was just too "typical shoujo drama queen" for me to be able to like or relate to. The main male character was amazing, like my favorite even when he became a douche-bag. He was hot, funny, and could sing. I loved the idea of "singing and rockstar centered" but I think it could've been done better and a little more drawn out and dramatic. Seriously, needed more drama!!!!
Overall, I give this manga a ... 7/10, and I neither recommend this nor don't recommend this. Again, I only read it because I was bored.

There's something a little comforting about love stories that fall together quite perfectly, even if they're too perfect to be realistic. 16 Life is good for people who still believe in romance that springs up from nowhere, musical talent that brings people to their knees, men and women that are prettier than average, and drama that could only come up in TV shows.

I'll give you a glimpse. The protagonist, a girl who firmly believes that she should follow a straight path to a stable career, is scouted by a handsome music producer. Ooooh, what will happen next? What a surprise... EVERYONE knows what happens next. ... Despite how cute the whole situation may seem, the story is quite heavily laced with cliches. Love triangles abound, musical talent is guided by feelings, past relationships come back to light, etc. The brevity of the manga made me thankful because I was starting to roll my eyes over how sappy the love was.

The characters were no help to the story, either. Saya is the typical heroine who lets herself be taken in by love from a dude she barely knows, and though she's friendly, her emotions can really get in the way of things. The only good aspect of that is that she can channel her feelings into her singing. That is really something considering the way feelings usually affect people's performances.

The men of interest were the standard bishounen. They were fine, but nothing so special, and all had weaknesses that weren't so unique. While they were attractive, two of them looked just like each other except for differing hair color. (I really hate that.)

I suppose the saving grace of the manga was the art. While big-eyed girls and good-looking dudes are not at all particularly original for shoujo, the artwork did fit the tone of the story. I think the mangaka's eye for clothing wasn't too bad, though I can't say much else about the rest.

Another fatal flaw was the mangaka's total dismissal of a problem which was never resolved. I suppose in the epilogue it seemed as if it was done and over with or forgotten, but that dissatisfied me seeing that it seemed to be an important issue before. Otherwise, the story went on and that was that.

So, should you read this? Only if you're into some super fluffy shoujo.

Quickie Review: Meh

Detailed Review: Well, the very first thing I noticed was the female main character's eyes. Like, wow, her eyes take up a lot of her face. But that was quick for me to get used to. This is a romance story about sudden love sprung up by a dude in his mid-20's and a 16-year-old girl. I don't see how hard it would've been to, like, put her in college or something since the school only played a 1% role in this story, but whatever.

The main female enjoys singing, and she does it to relax when the main guy scouts her out ... at a karaoke bar and romance ensues. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the story is BAD because it's not, but I felt like it should've been more fleshed out. I noticed that plot points were picked up... then abruptly dropped; situations that would've made for a more interesting read... were abandoned. I feel like it was more like "Here's a romance! 12 chapters! Now LEAVE." and I really would like to see it more detailed.

There's a love triangle for, like, 2 chapters, then it's done. Not satisfactorily, just poof.
There's a romantic rival for, like, half a chapter before she's gone too.
There's potential for family drama but guess what?

I wanted to like this story more than I did. The synopsis is a lot more interesting than the story itself. There are elements I'd like to see done differently.

Would I recommend it? No.
Would I bash it? No. (Aside from the age gap, why oh why, is that so prevalent in manga?)

It's a very quick read and not that deep. If you've got... an hour or two to kill, you can blow through it.