Ranked #709

Yumemiru Taiyou (Manga)

At some point or another, we’ve all wanted to run away. Be it because life isn‘t how we imagined it to be or some things are just too hard to deal with. To not have to worry about what we leave behind or maybe that’s the reason we want to leave so badly.

On very few rare occasions, you might actually do it, leave your fears and move on. When that unusual phenomenon happens, sometimes it could be the biggest mistake of your life, others times it turns out to be exactly what you needed. Even if that road is as bumpy as it is thrilling.

For Shimana, who wasn’t the happiest girl at home, that felt like the only solution. Trying to escape her loneliness she runs away from home and steps on a stranger wearing a kimono. That stranger offering her a place to live in was kind of like fate. We all know very well, fate works in mysterious ways. Fate also is a twenty one year old landlord who loves sake a little too much, but that’s besides the point. There’s a catch to his offer and it’ll depend on her meeting his three conditions.

I’m going to go straight to the point here by saying that this manga isn’t delivering the same spontaneous(ness) it starts of with. I was hopeful at the beginning, it is safe to assume that my disappointment is due to my own expectations of wanting a female lead who was more eccentric and a little more mature. I was disappointed. It’s not that it’s a horrible manga that made my eyes bleed. It’s just that it was so common and predictable it made my brain yawn. And though the main focus at first was her leaving her home, that is just a means to opening doors for this lead girl to fall in love, multiple times.

There is a not so hidden message in the manga about following your dreams, at least that’s what I read in between Shimana getting crushes on the main leads, which was a bit annoying after the first fail. I am also glad that they cleared up her running away from home and she grows a little and confronts her family as to what’s going on with her.
But, not all is lost because there seems to be a hidden back story with the landlord, who turns out to be the most interesting character thus far and has his own pack of secrets. The main set are all different in personalities yet the same. I was wondering at first if there was more than meets the eyes but it doesn’t seem to be the case. There are a lot of drifting characters that only last a couple of pages or a volume at most. All characters are likable and for those wondering there isn’t a villain per say. It’s more of life’s occurrences with a tinge of exaggeration.
Not to worry I still have hope for Shimana to become more interesting specially in regards to her mothers death since those details are obscure so far.

I enjoy my share of love triangles. Most of the time I feel they are overdone and redundant, on those times when you KNOW who they will choose and it’s just a no-brainer. Come on people Edward and Jacob? Seriously (sorry that‘s the most popular triangle out right now). With that in mind, I really hate triangles when both people are earnest and humble and one of them will have to get hurt and it‘s just so sad because you wouldn‘t mind keeping one but instead karma comes by and there he is imprinting on your daughter…

Life just isn’t fair that way but on another not so different note; What is the purpose of love triangles anyway? They rarely happen in real life and just because we all like to feel wanted and it pars with our inner egotistical personalities to feel significant (in this otherwise enormous world) and conflicted to make a choice about two guys who are too good to be real yet both want you? Well, lets just call it a rhetorical question for now.

The art is not as ordinary as the manga and was pleased to see that unless the characters are related, they don’t look the same. It is so frustrating to read a manga and not know sometimes who the heck you’re looking at. The main difference I think would be Zen, he is what stands out most in this world Ichigo created for us and next to the landlord shows great individualism aside from being borderline weird sometimes. I mean, penguins? Really….

In the words of a friend, the bottom line is that it’s worth a read and has great potential, can Ichigo deliver? That we will have to see but so far I won’t lose sleep to read this one.


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Story/Characters:
Since there is already a synopsis of this story....
The one thing that really sets this story apart from others are the characters' personality and how they interact/view each other. If it weren't for that, the plot would seem a bit over done (but of course, I'd want to read it to find out the ending ^_^). In this story there is a girl who ends up living with a few guys- none of which are truly cliché. There is Taiga that reminds me of Shigure from Fruits Basket and Asahi that is actually cool "at home", but a "nerd" at school. Finally, Zen who is punk-ish, but loves pandas XD ...as of now there aren't any other characters introduced except for Zen's brother in the latest chapter.
To sum it up: Have a dream and find love.

Art:
It's very realistic and appealing. There really isn't a lot of fine detail; it's very clean and dark. Which isn't a bad thing. I really enjoy looking at it. It's not like Shinobi Life, where the art has a variety of different shading and the lines are much lighter compared to Yumemiru Taiyou- (I absolutely love Shinobi life btw; just comparing art).

Overall: I enjoyed it and I highly recommend it... but then again this is only my opinion and review of it. read more