Ranked #502

Kore wa Koi no Hanashi (Manga)

After reading the chapter summary and taking a glimpse at the front cover, I decided that this story could either have a lot of promise and potential OR that it would just end up being a total train wreck.

Well, I don't typically venture through these kinds of stories, so I made it my duty to read through one finally...

Story: 9
Like most manga, the first few chapters might end up feeling a little rushed or typical. Thankfully, this is the kind of story that gradually gets better and better the more you progress into it. The idea about a romance budding between a scary-looking 31 year-old writer and a baby-faced 10 year-old girl might sound a bit sketchy at first, but, truth is, the story doesn't go over too many boundaries.
The feelings of the characters are not completely overdone, and the circumstances that go along with the story aren't thrown out of nowhere like in some story plots. And, since it does have that "forbidden romance" theme, you tend to think about things you would normally not find yourself thinking about... or even WANTING to think about. For me, I actually like to ponder those things we constantly try to keep hidden within our subconsciousness, since no one ever mentions them.

Art: 8
The art is well done. I think the artist captures the main protagonist's persona very well and the author knows how to set the mood, whether it's a serious, light, or humorous tone. 'Guess I'm basically saying that the art is good but isn't exaggerated like in other manga that depend on their art for everything, especially humor, y'know?

Character: 9
I don't know, the main protagonist's character at first seemed rather stereotypical to me, but I ended up liking him after a couple more chapters. He's definitely not some lolicon or pervert, though. He's just a normal guy who didn't really think about the consequences in his actions and ended up in a pretty tough situation. It was surprising for me at first, but he does actually handle things pretty well.

Enjoyment: 10
What I really like about this story is the fact that although it started out as an innocent girl's crush, the main protagonist gradually starts to face the young girl with a sense of care and giving... like that of a family member. They were just two strangers who slowly started to relate to each other, and their bond is something that I can't exactly describe. Is it romantic love? Is it paternal love? I currently see it somewhere in the middle.

After reading 19 chapters in one sitting, I give Kore wa Koi no Hanashi an overall score of 9.

I highly recommend this story to people who desire to get in-tune with that inner subconscious we tend to push aside due to popular or even our moral beliefs.

By the way, thanks to those who ended up reading 'till the end. (This ended up getting longer than I thought.) Happy reading~! ^v^ read more

My Thoughts:
I wasn't really into these types of manga. I thought that I would come to hate it due to the fact that a thirty one year old is trying to score a ten year old. But despite believing so, it wasn't my style to judge a book by its cover, so I decided to read the first chapter just to get the juice of it. To my surprise, the manga shoot completely above my expectations. Kore wa Koi no Hanashi, a manga for both teenagers and adult. A story based upon the sanctity of love and friendship. Truly something in which I could not have foreseen coming.

Plot:
At first glance, Kore wa Koi no Hanashi may seem to be a story about pedophile but it isn't. Unlike other manga, Kore wa Koi no Hanashi starts out with the goods stuff so the readers will get into the story right away. Throughout the manga, it would be rare to find a plot where the story wasn't interesting. Every little thing in that manga is valuable and builds up to the moral story line.

Characters:
Uchikai Makuzu, like most male manga characters, seems cold and expressionless.(Obviously due to trauma in the past) Despite being so, he is quite caring and mortify with his own decisions and believes.

Morimoto Akio, she herself is emotionless most of the time and rarely express how she feels. But she's not afraid to say what she needs to say in order to her true feelings at critical moments. Though out the story you will see her innocence displayed and how her personality very much is the key to the drama of the story.

PS:
After reading the manga so far, half of me want them to end up together while the other half don't. But it is pretty much predictable about what is going to happened in the end. read more