Hot Road

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Hot road is a popular shoujo series in the 80's which tells the story of Kazuki Miyachi and how she got to meet the "NIGHTS" motorcycle gang and a boy named Haruyama.

In it's base, Hot road is a very youthful story. It feels very rebellious and "punk". Aside from the motorcycle gang rivalry and business (which is pretty minor) we can see all sorts of experiences that a lot of teens can relate to and understand:stuff like rebelling, without cause sometimes, against parents and teachers. Feeling like no one understand you or your actions, and sometimes not understanding them yourself. Problem dealing and communicating with ... the adults, and finding that friends are above all... even stuff like first love. All of that is not new in story telling, but Hot road bring it in a very authentic yet simple way. A lot of stuff feel dramatic, as teenagers often feel about things. The excellent way of understanding and getting across the mind of youths in what really amazing in the story. The thing that could only be a minor disappointed was the fact that there were drugs in the manga (very rare!) but the author never really dressed it or the problem properly, in my opinion.

As for the characters, a lot of them feel real. They have problems at home, especially our Heroine, which feels unwanted and unloved at home, finding comfort in the gatherings of the "NIGHTS", finding love from Haruyama. Haruyama is also case of "rebel without a cause", living apart from his parents and doesn't want to communicate with them, yet deep inside he blame himself for that. Although a lot of people love him and adore him, he has a case of self hating, which can lead to self harm.
This we see a lot in this manga. The characters usually do stuff that can lead to your own demise, because that's how teens are. They live, they laugh, and often they don't think things through the end. Getting in trouble and just enjoying the company of each other.

The art is... well, pretty bad to be honest. It's not just the matter of old fashioned art or something like that, the problem is character design. It's just not good, most of the time. A lot of characters are similar (same face) and it's really annoying when you try to figure exactly who is who. But, as said before here, the style is great. The perspective, the paneling and of course the zooming when we can see only the eyes and the mouth of the characters, adds a lot. What lacks in the art, the style is covering for that.

Overall, it's a great manga. It's young and fresh and as said multiple times-simple. It's not really hard to understand and it's short. The thing that may bother you (and bothered me, a little bit) was how dramatic the love story was-of course, it fits perfectly for the story, as teenagers often feel like their first love is the biggest love of their life, and that they could never love like that again. But still, I can usually never stand love stories like that. If you like good, realistic teen stories, I believe you would like Hot road.

Lurking around the internet looking for a quick read, I come across Hot Road. To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much but I got so much more from this series that I felt compelled to write a review. Hot Road may not seem like much at first glance, but it truly is a very well done manga that I recommend!

Story: (8)
The story is simple. A simple, quiet girl ends up getting involved with a motorcycle gang and ends up getting romantically involved with one of the gang members. The manga is not too dramatic, though, and at times it almost feels like a slice ... of life. There aren't many plot twists or overly dramatic portions, just a beautiful simplicity that allows the characters and their relationships take the main stage, which the mangaka handles very well.

Art: (7)
Like most older manga, the art takes a little time to get used to. With time, though, it really comes to grow on to you and there are a few particular panels where the art is really, really well done. Nonetheless, sometimes the character's expressions were sort of dull and the backgrounds sometimes weren't very clear, so I can't rate it any higher than a 7.

Character: (9)
This is where Hot Road shines. Kazuki, the main heroine of the series, is not your typical shoujo protagonist. She's serious, quiet, and keeps to herself. Every once in a while she does cry, but it feels fully justified and not at all over dramatic. Haruyama, her love interest, starts out as a typical rough gang-type character but in a few chapters comes to grow to so much more. Better yet, the two grow, mature, and develop as the series progresses in a very satisfactory and realistic way. Supporting characters are not given as much backstory and development, so I cannot rate this section a full 10, but they were given a satisfactory amount that they do not feel flat and boring. It may leave pickier readers wishing for more, but I was fully satisfied.

Enjoyment: (10)
I got a lot more than I was expecting from this series. I was just looking for a way to kill time and ended up finding a very well-done, interesting, and enjoyable series. I planned on reading the series over a span of a week and ended up finishing it in two days since I kept wanting more and more.

Overall: (8)
Hot Road shines in its simplicity and captivates you slowly and fully. It's not a masterpiece, but it certainly is a very good and well-done series that is worth looking into.