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Okay, so actually I already knew the entire story before I even started reading because I've seen the Taiwanese drama remake of this... twice. Obviously I knew I would like it (and if you like this, then go watch the drama -- it's seriously the best thing ever!).
STORY: 10
Yes, it's a "masterpiece". That word is usually over-exaggerated when pertaining to shoujo, because it's so hard to find good shoujo manga and when it's even mildly good, you're inclined to think of it as a masterpiece even maybe when it's not. But I'm serious here, this story was wondrous. Basically, it's about two teenagers -- ... Kira and Rei -- who although come from different backgrounds, both have deep scars from their emotional pasts. They're drawn to each other, and together they begin a journey to try and survive and find happiness in this world.
I know it sounds like it's been done before, the whole "girl and boy with dark lives meet and everything is happy", but it hasn't. Not like this. The story is, as many people have called it, realistic. Yet it manages to tell an overdone plot line flawlessly, and freshly.
ART: 8
Maybe it's because this was produced over a decade ago, but the art seemed kind of out-dated. NOT TO SAY IT TOOK ANYTHING AWAY. It didn't. The art WAS well done, it just shows a different time period, I suppose. But generally most of it was very attractive, and I loved when it was scenery art because I think the illustrator was superb at doing scenery.
CHARACTER: 9
The character development here was outstanding. Like, I've never seen character development like this. You start reading the manga about completely different people than when you finish the manga. They change so much. I actually loved Kira and Rei. They both had so much depth, and it was easy to imagine them as real people -- people who could potentially actually exist outside of this manga. And the supporting cast, wow. They were all great, even the annoying, evil ones. I suppose it's a nine because somehow I feel that TOO many tears were spilled, but then again I can totally understand why because all these characters had a lot of problems, so really I can't judge.
ENJOYMENT: 10
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, as I knew I would because, like I said, the live-action was great and to date is still one of my favorite dramas ever. It had a bit of everything. Romance, mystery, betrayal, lies, comedy, sadness -- just everything, and in the right amounts.
OVERALL: 10
I recommend this to everyone and everything. Seriously, I cannot commend this manga enough. There's really nothing more I could say to express how much I loved it.

I feel almost horrible for doing a review like this, because I should, by all accounts, be giving this manhwa a solid 9 or 10. When I look over everything I've just read, all the areas that attract me to a story were covered. Plus, the art was great. Why, then, do I have an underlying gentle hatred towards all of this? Well... I don't know.
ART:
I think we can all agree that whether you liked or didn't like this manhwa, the art was exquisite. It was beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that sometimes I just paused on a certain page to admire it. It ... was that good. I cannot find a single fault in it.
STORY:
Now here's where the manhwa really lost a lot of points with me. I feel like the author could have cut easily 25% - 40% of the plot, and the story would turn out so much better. There's only so many times I can read through a scene where someone is about to say something life-changing, only to be interrupted by whatever interrupts them, and then awkwardly refusing to say it. I just couldn't take it. I couldn't take how so many of the things that happened seemed to happen for absolutely no reason. What seemed to be problems that could be easily resolved in the span of 2 - 12 words were dragged on for chapters. People got angry for no reason, and didn't get angry enough when there was good reason. Too much crying, whining, and not enough actual logical procedures. It made me angry as I was reading it, which I don't think was the original intent.
CHARACTERS:
Okay, they all started out with so much potential. I thought the main leads were quirky, funny, everything that I like in characters. Then, slowly -- I'm still not even sure how -- I ended up hating each and every one of them. I honestly cannot recall a single character who I consistently liked throughout the manhwa. I don't mind if the characters screw up a few times, that's okay. I don't mind when they make stupid decisions sometimes. I DO mind it when they make the same mistakes and stupid decisions OVER and OVER again. I'm pretty sure every other chapter included a scene where a character sat down, and was like "Well, I screwed that up. *insert obnoxious sobbing and whining here* I must now go out there and screw this situation to the point where I am the biggest screwer of situations who ever screwed.". By the end of this whole semi-fiasco, I honestly couldn't care less whether the two leads got together or just said "Fuck it, I didn't like you that much to begin with anyway." and left it at that. And honestly, all of the secondary characters were such pricks. I'm pretty sure most of them were inserted to just be pricks but at different times -- to provide variety. I tried to like people, I really did, but you can't ask me to do something that would crush any morality that I have left inside me.
OVERALL:
... Now, despite everything I've said, I did finish it. That says something. Well, I finished it provided that I've seen the drama (which leaves out 80% of this manhwa, and changes roughly 10% of it), and I actually really enjoyed it. I felt as if I would almost be betraying the drama if I didn't push through this endless black hole of depression.
If I have anything good left to say about this, it would be the following. The comedy was pretty good. I enjoyed the humor that was injected into here, most of it managed to make me laugh out loud. When the characters weren't forcing themselves into self-induced love traumas, when they were actually with each other and not being all stupid, their scenes were pretty cute. The angst was hardcore -- so if angst is for you, you will seriously fall in love with this. It was a complex story, and it had a lot of things going for it; it just wasn't for me.

This is a manga consisting of 3 one-shots. Overall, the stories did nothing for me.

The first one was about a strong, handsome delinquent who falls in love with an intelligent girl who was supposed to go to an elite High School but on the day of the entrance exam, she, unfortunately, got sick and therefore stayed home. After that she had to attend a horrible school for rather unintelligent people. One day, when she is supposedly being attacked, the guy saves her. And then they start to fall in love, blah blah blah blah blah. There was absolutely nothing original to it. More over, I ... don't even think it had a story line, and if it did, it was poorly executed. All I remember is that the guy got in a lot of fights and was the leader of some gang or whatever, but when he was around this one girl he blushed and acted like a little kid. I mean, I'm sure some people like that type of stuff, but I guess I wanted something deeper, or something not as cliché.

The second one just kind of annoyed me. The heroine is at first crushing on the vice president because he 'saved her'. So she tries to get on the school council so that she could get close to him. But the president, the one who gets to decide who gets on the school council, ends up using the girl. For her to get on the school council, she has to be his assistant. Then he ends up pretty much demeaning her but somehow she ends up liking him. I'd like to think that no girl who has self-respect would let herself be treated like that...

The last one was very cliché. A guy blackmails the protagonist into dating him for five days with pictures. And for some reason, the girl hates Christmas. I'm not really sure what that had to do with anything, but apparently the pictures used for blackmail were taken on that day. I really don't think thats a good reason for hating a day. And we all know that although the guy completely violates the girl, she's not going to stick up for herself but instead will fall in love with him.

Stories: 4
It was decent. I can't say it's great, but I guess it wasn't completely, hopelessly awful. I kind of wanted to just drop it by the time I got to the last chapter, but I wanted to add another COMPLETED manga to my list, so I trudged through the last 30 or so pages. It's tolerable. That's it.

Art: 9
Now this was my favorite part of the manga. I know for a fact that if the art wasn't this beautiful, I would have dropped it at the very beginning. The art was gorgeous.

Character: 3
Well, for one, the girls had no backbone and sometimes I wanted to slap them and tell them to just stop being so stupid. I mean, it looks as if they don't like being violated but they still let it happen. Then they say 'Oh my god, I can't believe I let that happen.' Over and over and OVER again. As for the guys, the first one was supposedly dangerous and everything but then was like mush when he was with the girl. The other two guys were just controlling.

Enjoyment: 4
Well, I guess I had a good time getting angry at the characters so that has to count for something, right? The story itself wasn't the best but bearable if your bordering on insane because of being very bored.

Overall: 5
The only reason it's a 5 is because the art was stunning. The story was...eh. Nothing special. Just another manga that's not going to be memorable.

Rina is a beautiful girl who cares little for friends and uses them, believing that since they use her to meet boys, it's alright.Her father is cold, but her mother loves her deeply. However, Rina cares little about her mothers love too. But once she suddenly gets sick and is sent to a hospital, a friend from elementary school appears. She helps Rina understand the meaning of true friendship and together the two girls go through many difficult things together.

Dear Friends is one of those manga's that really get to your emotional side. I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to reading ... this. I was bored and somehow just found this. So, I began to read. At first I was a little angry with the main character, but then I began to understand her more. And then...I couldn't stop reading. This manga took me through many stages. It went from annoying, to angry to sad to slightly happy. In the end I came to love it. I recommend this story to anyone who has some spare time and wants to read something that will make you cry. Overall, I give the story a 9.

The art was amazing. I give it a 9 too. It was pleasant to look at and only added to the story. The characters were all well drawn.

As for character development, I'll give that a 9 as well. Seeing as how this story wasn't too long, the author had to make the personalities of the characters clear from the very beginning, and they did that very well.

This manga gives off a good message. It's about friendship, betrayal, and life in general. I really hope you will give it a chance.