Introduction:
Minami Touko’s “360 Degrees Material” presents an interesting concept in shoujo manga, where a seemingly slow and isolated, yet cool and attractive male lead, Taki, suddenly blossoms into a far more interesting character when he meets Otaka Mio, when they share a moment by the subway, staring at clouds together.
Story: 9/10
As a school life manga, it is difficult to break out of the usual molds where the female lead almost stalks the male of interest until they magically meet each other. Instead, “360 Degrees Material” Otaka Mio regards Taka as a weird person at first, falling for him only after the two spend
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some time together. As such, it was both refreshing and interesting to watch the two grow closer and overcome all the common miscommunications and conflicts within their relationship. Additionally, the organization in this manga was very well done. I enjoyed focusing on one distinctive event each chapter, often situated in new environments outside of school. As for the pacing, on rare occasions I lost interest in the chapter as certain events, such as studying for tests, was stretched out. For the most part though, I found that the pacing was enough to keep me reading on, especially since from very early on, the two leads establish a romantic relationship, thus we are able to focus on what happens afterwards, instead of the typical slow and suspenseful manga that ends as soon as the characters discover their mutual feelings. Overall, the story was well done, but was missing a touch of drama or emotion, however this can be expected to be seen in later chapters.
Characters: 9/10
Firstly, the character appeal in “360 Degrees Material” was outstanding. Taka was an interesting type of male lead, who was neither the typical nice, cheerful, and outgoing guy, nor the cool, level-headed, yet sweet and faithful type of guy, both of which usually attract a lot of attention. Though he would later lean towards the latter, Taka lived in his own world, thus Otaka Mio did not encounter many problems approaching him, or even dealing with other girls until later. Otaka Mio on the other hand, was a typical unintelligent girl who is consistently unable to perform well in school. Despite this, she is not overemotional, nor is she constantly crying or worrying about her relationship with Taka, and hence is not as annoying as some female leads tend to be in shoujo manga. The supporting characters are also likable for the most part. The second male interest, who helps Otaka Mio, then falls for her later, is a nice, confident, and respectable rival to Taka, while Taka’s childhood friend is understandable and someone who the reader can sympathize for. As for development, Taka grows into a more confident, involved character, especially as we learn more about his past and former relationships. In general, the characters were appealing, even slightly original, and show decent development.
Art: 8.5/10
For the most part, both Taka and his male rival were drawn in an attractive manner, which is an important component of shoujo manga, whereas Otaka Mio and the other characters lacked some detail. The clothing was pretty plain for the most part, and a little more creativity in regards to casual clothing would have been appreciated. The general atmosphere created by Minami Touko was enough to satisfy the story, and as a certain feeling of gloominess due to the lack of smiles that were depicted on the characters. On top of this, the art was a little heavy and could have been cleaner for my taste, but this is depends on the reader’s preferences. The art was nevertheless enjoyable, although I do believe it lacked several minor components in order to make it outstanding.
Enjoyment: 9/10
For the most part reading this manga was very entertaining I will continue to follow this manga as new releases come out. Reading about Taka is probably the most interesting aspect for me, though it will also be interesting to watch as the male rival develops his feelings and how Otaka Mio will deal with this. The parts that took away from my enjoyment were mostly school related, parts that emphasized Otaka’s lack of intelligence and made her more stereotypical of shoujo manga girls.
Conclusion: 9(8.875)/10
To be honest, at first I thought this manga deserved a 10/10 just because I was able to enjoy it so much, however upon closer inspection, I feel there are minor flaws that restrict “360 Degrees Material” from becoming an outstanding manga. While there was an interesting introduction to the characters and story with decent art, I would have liked to see a more genuine interest for Otaka Mio from Taka, although I have hope for this in the future. If you have a true passion for shoujo manga, I would definitely recommend “360 Degrees Material”, however, for the average reader, it may be just something to pass the time.
 Alternative TitlesSynonyms: 360 Degrees Material Japanese: 360°マテリアル More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 8
Chapters: 33
Status: Finished
Published: Jan 13, 2010 to Sep 13, 2012
Genre:
Romance
Theme:
School
Demographic:
Shoujo
Serialization:
Bessatsu Margaret Authors:
Minami, Touko (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #57562 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1337
Members: 14,705
Favorites: 77 Resources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 7 / 10
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Jul 24, 2012
Introduction:
Minami Touko’s “360 Degrees Material” presents an interesting concept in shoujo manga, where a seemingly slow and isolated, yet cool and attractive male lead, Taki, suddenly blossoms into a far more interesting character when he meets Otaka Mio, when they share a moment by the subway, staring at clouds together. Story: 9/10 As a school life manga, it is difficult to break out of the usual molds where the female lead almost stalks the male of interest until they magically meet each other. Instead, “360 Degrees Material” Otaka Mio regards Taka as a weird person at first, falling for him only after the two spend ... 
Nov 21, 2015
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the other two reviews for this manga- I am not a hater, I honestly judge manga. And when I added this manga to my manga list I gave it a one upon completion. It is bad. I read this manga over a long period of time so I can't remember some details too clearly, but overall it wasn't good, not at all.
Art The art is mediocre, the main character, Mio, looks like any other main heroine picked up off the street. She isn't cute. Taki looks a bit refreshing but other than that he is average with his ... 
Nov 15, 2015
This manga was very good when it came to drama content. I miss it(it was that good), but i don't miss Mio at all. She was so self centered and didn't even think about how Taki felt when she was all friendly and cute with Marui, and when she watched him with an intense longing.
I hated Mio, but i guess that was what made the drama so strong...she felt jealous and insecure, angry and envious about the Hatano or math girl ..but when it came to her and her similar actions with a guy she dismissed them until the very end when she finally ... 
Jun 16, 2017
My feelings for this manga are very complicated. Overall, I really did enjoy it. I didn't love it, but it was really good. I can say as far as shojo goes it's a very unique story. I never expected the plot to become a fairly realistic look at temptation in a relationship. Truthfully, I can't see why everybody blames Mio for the events of the manga. To me, it seems like learning through your first real love for all three of the main characters. These young teenagers have never felt these emotions or gone through these things before, so they all made mistakes. When I
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Apr 5, 2019
For Romance shojo style with a bit of slice of life manga, the series as a whole has been mixed for me personally. A good start with a clear establishment of a set relationship is always a fun read. Especially the aspects of being in relationships and the struggles with it. And this was for the first 10 chapters. The rest, well mixed. The main two leads were, for me great at the start. Getting their feelings across straight with the Male lead having the past problem while the female lead accepting those problems and moving on together.
Then Marui came along. Look, I get it. ... 
Feb 23, 2018
When i started to read this manga i wasn't fond of any of the characters, Mio is just like any shoujo heroine: plain and falls in love with the first guy who talks with her, and then starts chasing after the guy. now about the guy, Taki, i liked him even less than Mio, because he doesn't have any kind of spark, he's just plain boring with plain black hair, and kinda weird, but at least he's not a douchebag, so i continued to read. Later Marui appeared in the story, he wasn't the perfect prince to sweep girls off their feet, but i just
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Feb 24, 2020
Overall the manga was okay. Thought it was gonna be something different based on the beginning 2 chapters but turns out the majority was very basic and generic. That being said I didn't hate it as it was one of those light drama with minimal drama with I really appreciate. All was going well till the very last chapter. I completely hated the ending. The book should've been named 180 degree as the character towards the end felt like they were completely different people to me. That last chapter was a disappointment as the minimal drama shoujo decided that it wanted to add a bit
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