Hope

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This is the kind of story that can even make you grow up.

This is not the first time and it's not gonna be the last time that Keiko Suenobu gives to us a very positive set of messages about human feelings.

I was very surprised that the author has been able to write a story with so many different messages but without being chaotic at the same time. The reading is totally pleasant and the drawings are as expressive as always.

The story is mostly about the hope of the main character dreams but not only. There is a lot of common human behaviours pointed out and ... the consequences that this behaviours implies. At some point the story ended up being quite sad, but in the end this allows the author to say great things making by this way the story even better.

On the other hand, the only weak point of this manga is a little lack of development in some parts of the story. At least for me, there was things to say that wasn't said. But honestly this is the only thing that I can complain about.

I totally recommend this manga to anyone that wants to read about human feelings.

Wow ... I just finished this manga and it is very hard for me to find the right words!

For me, this manga was extremly captivating!

The main character suffers a lot, learns a lot and shines at the end. I could simply not stop reading it!

The story is definitely not a typical shojo manga, it's a lot darker but therefore sooo much more interesting!

The only things I'd like to chriticize are that sometimes the story seems to jump a little (some issues are left unaddressed) and that the character development could be a bit more pronounced. But overall it is totally worth it!

Please give this manga ... a try. Read the first 4-5 chapters and only then make a decision an wether you like it or not.

'Raw' is the word I would use to describe Hope. It deals with some very dark, heavy concepts. Reading it, I felt hurt a lot. The protagonist goes through many trials and tribulations.

This pain is honestly the major draw of Hope. The art expresses it very well. There were a few times where I just had to stop and admire the depth of what I was looking at. Riding the highs and lows of the journey was quite enthralling.

But these are the only outstanding qualities of Hope. Even if I enjoyed myself, Hope lacks heavily in story and character development.

The story, while compelling, lacks ... reality. Severely. Things happen in it that would never actually happen in real life - and reality is a key factor in making a drama manga truly good. It also moves along at uneven paces. Some chapters take place over what appears to weeks, and then sometimes one day will take several chapters. Characters are picked up and dropped so quickly at the easiest convenience and for some truly trivial reasons, and others for not-so trivial reasons.

The biggest drawback was the highly under-developed characters. The only developed character was Hikari, the protagonist. Every other character is boiled down to a single trait: inspiring, plain evil, the rival, and etc. It made for predictable story, except when the random unrealistic things happened, and made the only true relationship the reader has with Hikari. I literally feel nothing for the other characters. Given that Hope started off quite strongly with a lovely friendship, it was quite disappointing to see how poorly used other characters were by the end.

Ultimately, these flaws didn't stop me from enjoying Hope. I was eager to keep reading from the get-go, and for all the sadness you experience in it, there's an equal number of up-lifting moments. That's what Hope is about really. It's about over-coming obstacles and rising above them.

Don't read Hope for the story. Read it for great representations of emotion.