Ranked #8853

Kiss in the Blue (Manga)

I'm only part way through, not even half way. But I tell you, the only thing that has kept me going is the fact that I was finding it so darn hilarious. I know that's not what they were aiming for either, but the problem with this manga is fairly simple, and I will explain it.

--Story: 5 --
This is a drama romance, so as far as stories go I guess it isn't too bad. A girl with a hidden past who falls in love with the 'bad boy'. Turns out he is involved with her trauma's, however.

--Art: 5--
I don't want to be too harsh. It's done with fairly average quality, I just dislike the style. Even if it is a bit old (as an excuse). There are often no backgrounds, either.

--Characters: 2--
Nothing original. The girl is such a whimp, she cries and screams "NO! Don't touch me!" whenever a guy simply touches her arm - just because she is in a 'rougher' part of town. And she cries a lot... And the guy pretends he isn't interested in her to be cool. And there is an antagonist who smiles evilly a lot, a protective brother, a mother who can't make up her mind on whether her daughter should be allowed near her father or not (which is just stupid and annoying. I felt it was just to allow certain plot twists to run more smoothly rather than give her any sort of characteristic), and the friend who only shows up when the 'plot' needs pushing and nobody else is there to do it.

--Enjoyment: 4--
Since the actual story did nothing, this is just me finding it way too funny.

--Overall: 3--
The main problem is how the story is presented. It felt too fast or rushed, with holes, and such a desperate attempt to make it dramatic that the whole thing was just laughable. Also, I never really felt that any of it was even remotely believable, including their relationship, which seemed to have developed to 'love' without much happening between them at all. read more

At first glance the story looks very dramatic - a girl with a traumatic past, a boy who feels guilty for all that happened to her, a blackmailing punk... Everything seems ok except that the author has no idea how people deal with such problems in reality O.o.
I've got an impression that everything (despite the horrible story in the bg) is extremely idealised and infantile - the heroine is utterly naive (not to say stupid) and easily manipulated like no one else (maybe except her even dumbier brother); the villain (who's as evil as a squirrel) plots against the main characters and backs off as soon as hardly anything goes as he planned.
That manga just tired me as hell. Thought that I would read something deep and dramatic, yet I got a boring and naive story that would never turn out this way in real life. read more