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Update: Everything I said below still applies to this one-shot, but please do not go into the main series expecting a similar story of the council getting up to shenanigans while helping out other clubs. The main series quickly becomes a mediocre at best battle shounen that attempts to subvert itself with pseudo-intellectual ramblings in an attempt to cover up how completely generic the series actually is. Obviously, I was not a fan of the parent series, but your mileage may vary, depending on your affinity for the genre. I thought this was important enough to note.


Before diving into the main series, I wanted to ... give the one-shot a try so that I could write an informed review. As such, this review only concerns the one-shot, and intended for those who have not read the parent series.

Story, 6: This set the basis of what could be a fairly interesting story with nearly limitless potential: a student council president with a mostly unwilling sidekick helping out school clubs. This particular one-shot dealt with the judo club and had a rather unnecessary twist at the end, but it was nicely paced at least.

Art, 7: The art as a whole was pleasing with bold, dark lines, but the ecchi doesn't seem to add anything to the chapter.

Characters, 6: Given this one-shot's relatively short length, the characters felt fairly archetypal but still interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about Medaka's rather manipulative personality in getting Hiteyoshi to work with her, but maybe that will be discussed at length in the full series.

Enjoyment, 6: Despite my grumblings above, I still thought it was an enjoyable read. It piqued my interest in the full series as well.

Overall, 6: I would recommend to other readers who want to get a taste of what to expect in the full series (or so I assume), or are simply looking for an amusing, quick read.

Note: It should be noted that I have not read the included one-shot "Jikan wo Tometa Shounen-tachi", as I was not able to find it anywhere. If I am able to eventually, I will update the review as necessary.

This was an interesting story about a kingdom plagued by sand and the travails of its heir.

Story, 6: While the plot was tightly-paced, much of its resolution happened within a few pages in the final chapter. This may be due to its short length, but it still felt a bit rushed. Otherwise, though, I thought the world had a nice amount of development.

Art, 7: Fairly standard ... shoujo art; fans of Yuki's work will appreciate some of the more fantastical elements present.

Characters, 6: Most of the characters were fairly one-note, but all of them had relatively clear motivations and they all contributed to a satisfactory ending.

Enjoyment, 6: I liked the ending quite a bit, and the story as a whole was overall satisfying.

Overall, 6: It was a quick and entertaining read which I would recommend to fans of desert sagas or Yuki's other works (though this departs rather significantly from some of her stories, in that it takes place in a purely fantastical world).

A story set in a futuristic world that mixes elements of sci-fi (cryogenics, automatons, etc.) with a light touch of supernatural powers.

Story, 7: Despite a short length of only three chapters, the world is fleshed out quite well. Readers get a sense of the state of the Earth, the implications of human experimentation, and what (if any) difference exists between artificial intelligence and human consciousness.

Art, 7: The action scenes were nice and the character designs felt fresh and distinct from each other.

Characters, 6: While I thought the main characters were interesting and certainly had a unique relationship, I was a bit underwhelmed by the ... GERA organization as a whole ( and Luzer in particular). The female characters mostly seemed like plot devices to push the protagonists along, which also irked me.

Enjoyment, 7: I finished this much quicker than I had anticipated. The world-building and potential for growth really attracted me, so it's a shame that the series is complete (though I think it wraps up nicely as it is).

Overall, 7: I would recommend this to fans of sci-fi or anyone that might want to try a more action-oriented shoujo series. Fans of Yuki Kaori's other works would probably enjoy this as well. A quick but entertaining read.

This is a collection of unrelated one-shots, most involving some element of stardom (bands or actors).

Story, 6: All of the stories included had fairly interesting premises and generally ended with a twist of sorts, but I sometimes felt that the twists were a bit far-fetched. That being said, this was probably the best of Yuki Kaori's works I've read thus far.

Art, 7: A lot of long-haired men and cutesy girls. The backgrounds were typically nice as well, though some of the paneling made the story difficult to follow at points.

Characters, 5: This rating varied for each one-shot: while I liked the characters in "Kaine" ... and 'The Orange Time Bomb", the other two had fairly bland casts (and "Tokyo Top" in particular had much too many characters to give them any semblance of depth).

Enjoyment, 6: It was a fairly quick read, and I certainly liked it more than Yuki's doujinshis. Nothing too groundbreaking but enjoyable.

Overall, 6: Fans of twist endings may like this title for its elements of mystery. Shoujo fans in general may appreciate the art style.

Favorite Chapter: "The Orange Time Bomb"; Least Favorite Chapter: "Tokyo Top"

This is a one-shot with quite the synopsis, but it unfortunately didn't live up to its outlandish premise.

Story, 2: The entire relationship was formulated on emotional manipulation: one partner was consistently unfaithful to spur the protagonist into action, while the protagonist battles with himself to quite literally not kill his partner. The conclusion was also lackluster and didn't serve to develop either of the characters.

Art, 6: This was satisfactory. The lines were a bit bold and there were a lot of seemingly unnecessary shoujo effects on the panels, but I may just be unfamiliar with Yuki's style at this point. It should also be noted ... that this is a doujinshi, so it likely isn't up to par with a licensed release.

Characters, 2: While I've discussed most of my thoughts on this aspect in the 'Story" section above, it could also be noted that neither character feels particularly believable. This may be due to the fact that one isn't actually human, but regardless, I was thoroughly underwhelmed with their motivations.

Enjoyment, 3: I only started reading this as a warm-up for Yuki's other, longer works. I don't plan to let this deter me from this goal.

Overall, 3: A very quick read that shounen ai fans may enjoy, but it unfortunately didn't thrill me in any way.

As stated in the synopsis, this one-shot eventually inspired the full series of the same name. Note that I have not read the full series at the time of this writing, so these impressions will be made solely based on the one-shot.

Story, 7: Given its relatively short length, I thought the story was paced well and allowed for several dynamic scenes between the characters. The ending was very satisfying.

Art, 8: The lines and shading seem much more distinct in this than other manga I've read, though that may just be my relative inexperience in manga talking. The style was unique and pleasing.

Characters, 6: This rating ... unfortunately is a tad low, simply due to the brevity of the story. There were glimpses into deeper motivations and feelings of the characters that I expected are expanded upon in the full series.

Enjoyment, 7: The one-shot was a quick, enjoyable read that sparked my interest in the full series; I was particularly impressed with the art style.

Overall, 7: Romance fans will probably enjoy this, though I would recommend it to anyone looking for something short to read. While it may feel cliche, I think t offers something unique in its relatively short length.

This volume compiles several unrelated stories, all dealing with supernatural horror.

Story, 6: While several chapters had interesting premises, I was fairly underwhelmed by their execution. Plot twists came from seemingly nowhere for the most part, but they were at least entertaining to an extent.

Art, 6: The art seemed a bit dated, even for the '90s, but it was fine. There were some nice pieces. The series had a few ecchi panels in the middle chapters, so avoid this if that isn't your thing.

Characters, 5: The characters blended together after a while; very few felt unique or developed. This was likely due to the shortness of ... the compiled stories, but they were rather lacking.

Enjoyment, 5: It was a quick read, but I can't say I'd recommend it.

Overall, 5: Fans of Nagai's other works may enjoy this; as this is the first title I've read by him, I can't vouch for its merits against the rest of his catalogue. I think there are better horror stories out there (Ito Junji has some nice collections of one-shots), but this is a short read for anyone who wants a quick taste of horror.

This is a short collection of interrelated stories, all dealing with unrequited love.

Story, 6: I thought the stories wove together nicely, but the stories themselves weren't very strong. There were a few touching moments, but the "climax" at the end of the volume didn't do much for me.

Art, 7: There were some refreshing panels included, and the characters all looked unique. The scenery was nice as well.

Characters, 5: A few characters reappeared in later chapters, and while I appreciate the bold move in leaving them unnamed, it made it even more difficult to distinguish one from the next (in terms of personality; as stated in ... "Art", they all looked sufficiently different). I liked several of them, but their personalities all seemed to meld together after a certain point, and their individuality was lost.

Enjoyment, 5: The read itself was relatively enjoyable, but I wasn't blown away by any particular chapter, nor was I really satisfied with the ending.

Overall, 5: CLAMP fans might like this lesser-known work for a quick romance read, but considering the art is done by Okazaki Takeshi (and not the other CLAMP members), they may be disappointed in the stylistic differences.

This mostly deals with the two siblings detailed in the synopsis. The stories are all connected (aside from the one-shots).

Story, 5: The two one-shots are extremely short, and while they offer mildly interesting premises, they simply didn't have enough time to develop into anything beyond average. The "Dissolving" series was interesting, but I didn't really like any of the chapters until "Interview with the Devil", where everything from the previous chapters comes together (which actually gave a satisfying conclusion).

Art, 7: There are some cool pieces here, namely for fans of biological horror (mostly to do with dissolving). It's solid otherwise as well.

Characters, 5: I thought ... the idea of a constantly apologetic character (Yuuma) was intriguing, but his character didn't extend much beyond that, nor did his sister's personality. All of the side characters were fairly flat as well.

Enjoyment, 5: It was a quick read, but it didn't thrill me until the final chapter.

Overall, 5: Fans of Ito's other works that contain longer plotlines ("Gyo", "Uzumaki") may find this more appealing than the various volumes that collect his one-shots (as this volume offers a multi-chapter story), but I don't think it's really on par with those works, in terms of storytelling or characters. The final chapter in this volume almost makes it worth the read, but I wouldn't recommend this particular story, other than to superfans of Ito Junji.

This is a one-shot that deals with supernatural horror (ghosts primarily), though there is some biological horror as well.

Story, 7: It seemed more like a symbolic piece that criticized the overworking of manga artists. While facing deadlines, the protagonist has to meet the demands of the apartment's ghostly tenants as well.

Art, 7: There were some cool pieces included in about the middle of the chapter, and the rest of the artwork is solid as always.

Characters, 5: The only character that's really fleshed out is the protagonist, but even then, his one constant trait is perpetual stress. While this may support the idea that the ... piece is more symbolic, I don't think the protagonist was an easy character to root for necessarily.

Enjoyment, 6: It was a short but entertaining read. It's not the best horror one-shot I've read, but it wasn't bad at all.

Overall, 6: Ito fans will likely enjoy this, but it's not necessarily a must-read title.