Vauxhall's Anime List | Vauxhall's Manga List

Vauxhall's Profile

I'll update this review when the rest of the volume is translated and uploaded so right now, I'll just focus on the first story: The Bean Sprout Boy and the Seed Girl.

STORY: 6/10
The first story concentrates on An, a fatherless high school student living alone with her mother. Since it's just the two of them at home, a lot of space isn't used up so one day, her mother brings home her subordinate from work, a man called Touichirou Yamada. A young man living at a house inhabited by two ladies? Of course responsible, obstinate An would take the wrong idea.

Seeing as this is a one-shot story, I firmly believe the mangaka could have further expanded this story to take up the entire volume. I mean, imagine all the drama and all the misunderstandings the situation would cause! It could have taken the manga's genre into comedy! However, Koyoma Kariko (the mangaka) keeps it simple and the plot actually takes on a mild-serious tone. To avoid spoilers, An is fatherless and her mother bringing home a man only causes her to assume her mother was trying to replace her deceased father. Cue misunderstandings and An constantly being dramatic, and you pretty much have the entire enchilada of this story.

ART: 8/10
For me, I thought it was very well done. The lines are smooth; the effects are nice (not an overdose of the whole 'sparkle' effect, as is common in shoujo); hair is quite detailed; the scene backgrounds haven't been neglected; and the eyes aren't too big (which is a big plus in shoujo, personally). Do I even have to say any more?

CHARACTERS: 6/10
Yes, I know it's hard to make characters come alive in 50 pages but...

Man, in shoujo, it's really hard to find a likeable main character, especially when it comes down to the heroine. For me, An was quite annoying. I know I only had to endure her for 50 pages or so but the way she just kept overacting and smooshing drama all over the story -- I didn't like it. Yes, I'm aware she's meant to be stubborn and such but I just wished she'd take a breather and think things through more carefully... before she misunderstood completely. (She also needed to learn to be a little more respectful towards her mother... She's a high school student... but for heaven's sake.)

Her mother was less than fine. She had no personality whatsoever and if there were more characters in this story, her mother would easily blend into the background. Aside from her cheeky side, I found her character really bland.

Touichirou Yamada was at least quite interesting. Being a plant lover and having a gentle soul... He appealed to me. I don't stumble into a lot of plant-loving characters in shoujo (at least... in the mangas I've read) so it was quite refreshing. And to be honest, he stood out more than An did, haha.

ENJOYMENT: 6/10
I stumbled on this just as I was about to go to bed and I guess it was enough to make me sleepy by the end. It's nothing like a masterpiece (after all, I've only read the first chapter) but it isn't too bad either. It doesn't make you laugh out loud or shed tears but it gives off a nice calming atmosphere (for me, at least). It's something you can read to unwind at the end of the day, I suppose.

OVERALL: 6/10
It wasn't too great, it wasn't too bad either. It isn't too cliche or flashy. The story is quite simple but personally, I thought it pulled it off quite well. In the words of MAL, it was fair. read more

I first came across this while lurking around in a scanlator's projects. I was attracted by the idea of plants and flowers, and the main character - to boot - has the unusual ability to talk to plants. Chuck in a straightforward (perverted?) male lead and a tsundere Student Council President and you have yourself an interesting plot.

STORY: 6/10
Despite the interesting characters, the story itself isn't... spectacular. It's fine as a romance but I believe it's overall atmosphere is far too shoujo to be classified as a shounen manga. Word has it that it's already finished in Japan with 13 chapters; however, so far only 2 have been translated so I don't know for sure where this story will go. I guess that's the only thing that keeps the reader guessing?
Going by what I've already read though, the story is simple. It's really kind of predictable so far too. The atmosphere is light-hearted with a tinge of dark here and there but everything is all sunshine and lollipops so far. For now, I guess I'll just wait it out and see where this manga will lead me.

ART: 8/10
It's very pretty! Hence, why I think it should be classified as a shoujo instead. (Nothing seems shounen about it at all, to be honest.) The characters may seem disproportionate at times, what with their long, lithe limbs, but the illustrations of flowers and background art definitely made up for it. At least, in my opinion.

CHARACTERS: 6/10
The main character, Mikoto, is fairly balanced personality-wise. She's not helpless enough to be called annoying but she's definitely shy and cute. To top it all off, she can hold her own - at least, until Aozakura (the male lead) forces her to accompany him (sexual harassment, definitely, haha!). They're both very cute and Aozakura's bluntness adds to the entertainment. In my personal opinion, I find them quite likable - at least I don't find them annoying. However, I find that the mangaka could have given Aozakura's character a much more enticing personality. So far, his character's personality has been done so many times, I'm starting to wonder if there's only one type of guy in mangas like these.
I'm interested to see where the mangaka will take their character development, but that can't be seen if there are only two translated chapters (for now) out in English.

ENJOYMENT: 6/10
I enjoyed it and I laughed at the dead-pans and Aozakura's charms. It's a very light-hearted read. It's not filled with angst that can be typically found in mangas like these so that in itself is very nice.

OVERALL: 6/10
If you prefer to read a story with a light-hearted and romantic plot line without all the angst and drama, then this is for you. Though, be mindful of the fact that updates with this manga have either been dropped, stalled or are just very slow. Enjoy Aozakura's gentlemanly charms and the beautiful art if you ever choose to pick this up. read more

Koakuma Lion is basically a romance between two childhood friends - and we all know how messy those types of romance can get. Enter Uno, the first half of the couple, and Leo, the hot-model-guy, and you have yourself a very nice - albeit very light - read. It's pretty much a compressed version of shoujo manga... minus the hate, the drama, and all the interesting bits.
Included below are also mini reviews of Renai@Home and LIFE+B.

Story: 6/10
It's not bad, for something three chapters long. In fact, it does explore what being in a relationship is like. However, feelings such as jealousy is pretty much a main theme. I don't dislike it. I just feel like there was more that could have been done. Sure, it moved fairly fast - but I guess it's good to keep in mind that the main manga itself is only three chapters long. It's not too heavy on the drama. As I said, it makes for a very nice light read.

Art: 7/10
I like the art! However, the girls' eyes seemed to be a little too big for my liking. The mangaka, however, does a good job drawing Leo and meeting the high standards of him being a model. The lines are elegant but I feel there should have been at least SOME focus on background and such.

Character: 6/10
I don't dislike them so that has to be a point in itself. They're not complex or anything - as expected from a manga of this length. They're likable. Certainly, Leo's hotness has rubbed off on me, that's for sure. I would have liked some deeper emotions to have been shown from them though. A little too much sweetness in their personalities ticked me off. At the end, I found myself thinking: "So everyone's nice in this story and no one's a bad guy with an ounce of spite for the average-not-so-fabulous girl to get the model boyfriend or whatever? I know this is a romance... but whoa!"

Enjoyment: 6/10
I didn't find myself sitting at the edge of my seat as I was reading. To be honest, the plot was so-so to the point that I couldn't care less if another chapter was released. They got their happy-ever-after, blah blah blah. It's all very bland, straightforward and boring. It's not heavy on anything - no drama, no jealous side-girl, nothing. In all honesty, if you're looking for a light straight-forward romance, then here. Read this.

Mini Review: One-Shot: Renai@Home
It's nothing much to talk about but the plot idea is very cute. At first, I thought Ai was a boy though, considering she was lacking in the chest area! The characters are likable and the entire situation Ren and Ai have been put in, with the arrival of Cocoa, is slightly cliche and ridiculous but fairly enjoyable to read. What? It was cute! The end also provides a fairly nice twist. I didn't even expect it!
Rating: 6/10

Mini Review: One-Shot: LIFE+B
I read the first few pages of this one-shot and instantly thought: "Hey! Kaichou wa Maid-sama!" Yep. Some aspects are fairly similar to that manga-turned-anime. It's definitely nothing compared to Kaichou wa Maid-sama though, considering as it IS a one-shot - and fairly bland and predictable. The characters are likable. Although the main character, Mio, I found somewhat... annoying. You can't blame me. She's supposed to be all "cool" and well... If you read it, you'll see. I loved Tomoki though, hahaha.
Rating: 5.5/10

Overall: 6/10
If you're looking for bishounen and light, romantic reads: this is definitely for you. read more

Based on a game called Rabbit Doubt, you would think that everything would be cutesy, despite the idea of a big bad wolf. I mean, come on. Rabbits? They're not that scary.
Wrong! Especially when you know there's a wolf pretending to be a rabbit and you're about to be... next on its menu.

STORY: 7/10
Read the synopsis; I won't summarise it for you.
Doubt is a very simple thriller, in my opinion. I guess what I liked about it was that the story plot was not blunt and straightforward, and there are several twists in the plot. However, perhaps not enough twists were incorporated into it to keep me at the edge of my seat.

ART: 8/10
The art was very nice - detailed and a lot of grunge in the background. It fits the story's genre nicely. There have been issues with the author adding pages and panels after publishing though so I guess careful reading is a must to understand the story properly.

CHARACTERS: 6/10
The characters were alright. They weren't very complex though and were somewhat predictable at times. Other characters weren't developed very well hence the rating. Also, some characters jump from one emotion to the next very suddenly which makes it hard to sympathise with them. For something that ran on for 21 chapters, I was really quite disappointed. Yes, the characters knew they were in danger and were really quite paranoid about it. No, the mangaka did not take this as an opportunity to make the characters come to life.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10
I love a good deal of blood and gore when it comes to horrors/thrillers so this manga was fine. The grunge was quite nice too. It really brought out the mood of the story. Towards the end, it gets very interesting though. Finishing it withing three hours certainly justifies the fact that I enjoyed it enough to sit still and keep reading.

OVERALL: 7/10
read more