Aug 13, 2011
First of all, those of you who really dislike reading Shoujo Ai manga, then I suggest you do not read this because that is what Hime Koibito is, a romance story involving two girls. I personally have no problem with these kinds of things, as I will enjoy any manga of any kind as long as it is interesting. The problem is that I did not really enjoy Hime Koibito, I found it kind of plain and forgettable and I will tell you why in the following review.
The art is probably one the best thing in Hime Koibito and that doesn't say much. Anybody who
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has ever read a shojo manga will automatically feel at ease with this kind of drawing. It does not reinvent the wheel, but it works. Most of the panels in this one shot are centered around the character and their expression to certain news or events. Do not expect detailed background and breathtaking scenery. As a matter of fact, in more than half of the panels you will not see a background, here it is all about the main characters and what they are living.
The characters look good and their strange expression are sometime funny and really convey what the characters are feeling. Well this is only true for the main two girls in the manga, as for any other character they are often drawn with very few details and blank faces, like in most shojo manga. In short this is not an ugly manga at all, but it is not a piece of fine art either.
While the art is important and help you enjoy a manga, the story is without a doubt the most important thing in any work of fantasy. Hime Koibito's story is probably the main reason why I did not enjoy this one shot more. It is a plain romance story that is easily forgettable, as a matter of fact, I had to read it again before doing this review because I had already forgotten most of it.
It is a classic tale of a young girl in love with her sempai and a sempai who has to deal with some personal problem before she can start thinking about her underclassman. This is a formula that I have often seen and most of the time it works, but here it does not. I never found myself caring for Midori's problem or the romance between the two girls.
The conclusion makes it worse as it makes me feel like Midori did not face her problem or evolved at all, but instead got external help from Karen who by the way is the best half of this duo. Still I must admit that the fact that there is only 20 pages makes it harder to get a full-fledged story with real evolution for the story and on the character's side.
And what about the characters. Well, Hime Koibito introduce us to two girls very different from one another. The first one, Midori, is a shy girl with glasses. I personally though that this character was kind of plain and never really stood out in a way that I would like her or enjoy seeing more of her. This is not because she is shy, but rather because she is boring.
Karen on the other end is the best end of this girl duo and probably the best thing this manga has to offer. This outgoing girl manage to put a little smile on my face in this manga where most of the things happening did not really interest me. But no matter how fun Karen is, she cannot save this manga by herself.
In the end Hime Koibito is a manga that I picked up while I was looking for a quick and enjoyable romance manga, what I ended up reading was a quick trip to boredom. This is an easily forgettable manga and I'm glad that it is because this way I'll forget it faster. You can always pick up this one shot yourself and see if you might like it, but in my humble opinion this is a chapter that you should pass.
For more about Hime Koibito: http://www.squidoo.com/hime-koibito-manga-review
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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