Shinshi Doumei Cross
The Gentleman's Alliance Cross

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I'd put this one at a 7.5/10. My favorite thing about SDC is the somewhat fantastical but still not magical academy setting. Something about Arina Tanemura's detailed art really lended itself to creating that surreal, immersive atmosphere. Very few other shoujo mangaka would be able to achieve this.

The heroine Haine is very standard for Arina, but she is at least a little flawed so I felt she was still somewhat likable. The plot is very heavy on the melodrama and while there were interesting parts, other parts made me roll my eyes. Overall, I guess SDC is more of a guilty pleasure of mine ... and I do reread it more often than most other slice-of-life shoujos.

Art :
Arina sensei sure have a good talent on drawing manga. I read Sakura hime kaden too (well, not finished because publisher in my country dropped the series) and I like it a lot. but not in Shinshi doumei cross. first book, I have to re-read it to remember the character (every chara look same!). I can't tell the different of Ushio and Haine when they close up. well, mailman and the strahl too (but I can look the different from the hat and hair when reading chapter 2).
Arina sensei drawing is good, but it's tiring reading this manga because almost of page is full ... (with flowers and unnecessary things).

Story :
I just read 2 title manga from Arina sensei, and I prefer the tale-type than high school type like shinshi. but the main story is unusual, it fresh and I mean it's good.

Characters :
Arina sensei's heroine usually one type : cheerful, dark past, already love the hero. but in shinshi, more chara in love with same sex type. I... don't like it. I still prefer cross dressing, but not with love in it.

Enjoyable :
the manga have 59 chapters, and my eyes is tired reading it. like I said before, the flowers and the details it's too much. it's good for the cover, but not in the manga.

Overall :
I hope Shinshi Doumei Cross is color manga, so I can enjoy the details (LoL). The story is good, art is good, and if I throw the fact that my eyes can't stand too much detail, it's very good manga.

I hope Arina sensei can improve the chara draw so they all don't look same.

Oh man, this manga. If you like over-dramatized, high school, slide-of-life manga, go right ahead.

-Story-

The plot is so over-dramatic I found it impossible to connect with any of the characters or the story at all. Even the overall plot of nice girl slowly melts the icy heart of popular boy so dull.

So much goes on with this story at such an inflated, ridiculous scale.

-Art-

... It looks pretty.

-Character-

This manga tries to offer interesting characters like Ushio and Maora and attempts to include substories, but for me it really just falls flat. Takanari's family backstory is ridiculous and unrealistic. The only sadness I feel is for how badly-written it is.