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Oct 20, 2011
"I don’t know if everything is destined from the beginning or if we make our own destinies with our choices …but maybe the answer to that isn’t so important. What’s important is that we’re alive."
This story was fascinatingly addictive.
Two people who stumbled into each others paths not knowing that they would forever be joined in a story so enchanting, that would change the course of both their lives. Now, I can be exaggerating since I sorta grounded myself from reading shoujo romances for a while, to the point that I was going through withdrawals before I picked this one up. Either way this manga was
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a page turner.
Lida Yoo is the girl who has everything and the enemies that comes with that package, someone wants to kill her for it. Yooi Kang, had to move from her home because she couldn’t afford it and finds herself changing schools and living situations. So when Yooi starts attending the same school as Lida only to find that they look like exactly alike, sorta, Lida doesn’t think it’s a coincidence more like perfect timing. Who better to use as bait for her killer than someone who looks like her? Clinging to the fact that Yooi has no money, Lida offers her a lot of money for her services, though she omits the real reasons behind it all.
After a bad day where she gets her first kiss stolen by a guy who is clearly upset with her, she is very confused and agrees. Two girls who are about to learn that life can clearly always be worse.
The story is not new, so many few stories are these days so I wasn't looking so much for originality but something that plays with the string of our hearts (sounds corny in my head too). A story in which the plots twist and turns is so well done you hold your breath and wait for it, the moment all the truths and lies come out into light and kick some characters in the gut as you watch how they handle it and eventually pick up their own pieces.
It’s a Cinderella style type of romance but it’s more. As the story starts unfolding it starts getting more..deep. Small hints about prophecies, destiny, and fate. Asking the question that some of us have been asking ourselves through time: Does destiny exist? Will it truly matter if I go left or right in the forked road? Can hitting a pigeon with my car make all of them hate me? Ok not that lost one but you get what I mean.
People are always saying, “Whatever will be, will be.” But is life really that simple? For Lida and Yooi it is not, and as they walk their own path they realize that every choice opens a brand new shiny door to a new consequence.
“A heart is like a double edge sword. The more you hate someone, the more you hate yourself."
If you’ve read Wann’s other works you start noticing a pattern in plot and also in characters. As an individual work it has strong characters, meaning, the nice ones make you feel all full and content, the others..not so much.
The characters were very well crafted individuals in this one. You have your villains who are vindictive s.o.b’s. The heroes who are sometimes the villains and their person is so well balanced in their role that you can’t help but go on that smooth ride with them even if you don’t necessarily agree. The loopholes the characters are subjected to are interesting though overly dramatic, sometimes too dramatic, taking away from the, "Sure, that can happen." delusional bubble I like to get in.
Lida is not a good person. I mean she has steel in liquid form running through her veins most days while Yooi, is her exact opposite. All the characters are different and interesting. They certainly all bring something new to this table, in a good or bad way.
The one thing that bothers me about the heroines is that they are so unrealistically nice. Sometimes it takes away from the story itself (not that it’s believable).
The art was very pretty. Sometimes great, but overall average to me. Each character was distinctively different. Though the bad guys all felt the same and the good ones most all felt the same too. It was as if there were only two types of personality, either black or white. Rarely was someone in the gray zone. Though that has little to do with the art, I always felt that a characters personality has to fit his image somehow so much that for the great characters that image becomes them, and if you change their art it won't be them anymore. That sort of thing.
At the end, closure. It was bittersweet but it was a nice story. I mean, I took a couple of days to review it just so that my review wouldn’t include, “OMG awesome!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 17, 2011
"I don't want love anymore."
100% Perfect Girl started like a fairy tale but along the way it shifted. Left me wondering how could love sometimes mess us up so to the point where we don't even recognize ourselves…
You have your average fairy tale story of a regular girl, Jay, who is living her normal life. While running an errand one day she meets Jarten. He is captivated by her. He had never seen anyone so beautiful and he has to know her, to have her. Jarten looks like royalty and it’s later revealed to her that he indeed is a Prince. After spending time
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with him and getting to know him he has to fly back to his country. Not before he proposes to her and asks her to go with him. Love knows no boundaries they say, Jarten and Jay will put that theory to a test.
Was it perfect? No. Like a lot of manga, the heroine was coveted by most of the guys, almost all. She was nice to boot and changed people’s lives, sometimes for the better and sometimes she was a calamity that befell on them. To say it with the words of someone in the manga, “She was like a cancer..” There was so much drama that it makes the story far-fetched but still leaves you wondering, what next?
You have your assassination attempts, bodyguards, weapons dealers, pro shooters/snipes, mafia, and the high class parties. Need I go on?
The plot sometimes got repetitive in a way but it's a common thing I have seen with long manhwa.
It started like a regular fairy tale of Prince falls in love with a regular girl who feels trapped in her life. He loves her, needs her? She saves him with a promise to be by his side. Unfortunately, the other side is not greener in this case it’s just bigger and with it brings seclusion.
Havoc was at every corner for them, one after the other, you witness the relationship change. All that mattered is that she was by his side. At first it surprised me the gloomy turn the manga went. But it made me like it even more. Because not all love is great and it does have it’s darkness.
I want to say that this is a romance but that’s not exactly true. Love meets that thin line that borders on obsession and restraining order.
Was there love? Yes, but it sometimes it was masked to look like obsession. The love became selfish, started changing them all while it makes the one you love self destruct by your mere presence in their life. that’s how you know. That’s what happened to them.
It showed love at its worst, destructive.
You’ll meet characters you’ll like and one’s you’ll hate to your core. Others you’ll love to hate or hate to love.
There’s villains up the wazoo, but then again it is to be expected when the hero of the story is a rich Prince who seems to have it all.
Jay is kind and doesn’t know the meaning of evil. At least not at the beginning. The characters whose change takes the longest is hers, in way. Because as a person you tend to have to hit rock bottom before you can really start to pick yourself back up and that’s what happened to her. I find that I really did like her character and you start to see her become who she wanted and not who everyone thought she should be.
Jarten was the hero but his character made me feel like I was in a malfunctioning elevator. Sometimes I liked him and sometimes I wanted to throw crap at him. He was actually pretty flawed, borderline psychotic at times. He’s the type that loves someone so much that would rather see them dead than with someone else.
You have your best friends whose role you sometimes enjoy more than the actual protagonist. The devoted bodyguard who’s story helps in creating and developing a great love for a character, Making him one of your favorites. You have villains that are so ruthless but yet so wounded you can’t help but feel for them in a dark and twisted way.
The art was nice. I had to get used to the way some features were drawn but after it will become the manhwa’s style and you start to enjoy it. There’s a beauty to the characters that give them a surreal look. Also, got to give Wann props for making the guy characters look great without their shirt on. They all look the same a little bit but still, a girl can appreciate.
The writing is amazing and the use of imageries and metaphors was great.
The ending, be a judge for yourself, it wasn’t my favorite the first time around. The second time I gotta say I kindda digged it. I still think it should have ended differently but hey to each their own.
Life, death, lies, obsession, coveting, selfishness, betrayal. This one has it all and it shows you, even being a princess is nor all it’s cracked up to be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 11, 2011
I thought Hiyokoi was going to be another version of Strobe Edge. Not in a bad way since I loved Strobe Edge, and honestly manga like that are never a bad thing. But, after much thought I concluded that it’s actually just a combination of manga that make you all warm and fuzzy inside that equal Hiyokoi.
Hiyori was in an accident the first day of school (the details of said accident will make you shake your head) and because of it she missed the first few months of school. That’s not her biggest problem it seems. The one thing she’s self conscious about is
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her height. She is very short at 140 cm, like 4th grader short (that’s how they reference it). On her first day of class (not actually the first day) her introduction gets cut by Yuushin, the popular guy who is freakishly tall at 170 cm. He is extremely friendly to everyone and knowing of her shy nature tries to encourage her to smile more. This slice of life romance is the journey of Hiyori actually enjoying school life and making friends and something more.
Hiyokoi was slow at times, which is understandable consider our heroine is a “weird” one. A quiet, shy, and particularly short girl, who is used to being left out and unheard because of her introverted nature. When the person sitting beside her is none other than the extrovert Yuushin, she can’t help but be drawn to guy who is her polar opposite in almost every way. Hiyoki, who is nicknamed Hiyokin, decides she wants to be different and change things for herself with the help of her really good friends Riichan and Natsuki.
It has the same feel as Kimi ni Todoke and sometimes the heroine has the same innocence that is thestaple of shoujo manga everywhere. I did think it was progressing a little slower than it could have and it took me a while to actually get in the story.
The characters, for some reason I always find it harder to review the characters than the story itself. Because while I am ok with the plot having likeness with each other, I feel every character should be different. I mean if five people were put in the same scenario we’d all react differently to every situation.
That’s why even though I feel the plot is overdone in general, I do think the characters have a certain spice to them that make them memorable.
Yuushin is a classic bishie type of male lead. He is popular and loves to sleep in class. Other than random conversations he has with Hiyorin we don’t really know much about him at all in the first volume or so.
He has a sense of humor and is actually pretty charming in general, and unlike other male leads he isn’t the perfect male lead. If it wasn’t for his height he’d be an average manga guy, albeit a good looking one.
I really loved Hiyori’s friends, Riichan and Natsuki. Their personalities are fun and apart from the humor they are really good friends to Hiyorin. there are more characters that are popping in give the story a good atmosphere with their own personalities and sense of humor.
The art is easy on the eyes and delicate looking. It was drawn in a modern style of manga so if moe girls with big eyes isn’t your thing, stay away. I thought it was cute that Riichan looked so much like the Vocaloid Miku, drawn she was the most striking to me in appearance. I didn’t notice until I read the latest chapters that most 97% of the manga so far is in school or in school uniform and it amazed me I didn’t even notice at first.
All in all, it is a very nice read, the characters are funny and nice. Not a lot of drama, not really. It’s mostly sit back and get aggravated that someone could be so shy. Most short people I meet are assertive as hell. Throughout the manga you will have short stories and even characters side story that are not only funny but sweet. This mangaka has a very nice sense of humor that reflects on her work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 16, 2011
“At that time, for me…you were my everything.”
The story of Hikaru and how she fell in love and experiences a happiness that was too surreal for words.
The story of Hikaru and how love didn't turn out the way she thought it was going to be.
Moe Kare takes flight as soon as it starts, with a nice swift introduction of the characters and then its plot commences. No dwelling on details you won’t need or recycle in your mind. It gives the impression that every plots twists and turns were designed, planned for, and revised--it’s just that well executed. Not meaning it’s perfection personified, but
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you’ve got to admire the beauty of the simplicity behind it.
That’s right, Moe Kare, was in all honesty, simple. Nothing far fetched or otherworldly (not including the way they fight and carry each other, that’s just ridiculous). It’s a story about a girl, not the smartest and definitely not the dumbest (hopefully), and the boy she likes.
This was probably my second time reading it, but I couldn’t remember something and it bothered me. Not the end, that I remember, but what happened that led up to the end was what eluded me. So, with the intention of dropping it if it got too boring, I started my Moe Kare quest once more.
Summary:
On her way home Hikaru meets her prince by way of him saving her. It’s fate! Or so she thinks. This prince doesn’t want her handkerchief as a thank you, he wants her body. One saliva exchange and a few name callings later, she goes back home feeling violated and depressed. Her prince is a lecherous guy.
Later that week she meets him again on a group date, the infamous perverted prince, and she gives him a piece of her mind (which leaves her with a very small amount ..lol jk). But wait, is this really him?
The answer is no. It just looks like him.
Hikaru, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it’s the ducks brother of course!
Characters:
The manga only really revolves around these three people. Hikari, Takara, and Arata:
Hikaru is sweet and average. She is the ass of the jokes in the manga, since most of the laughing is done at her expense (most, not all). Her character starts off really young but she actually grows in her role. Adapting to life’s curve balls or just putting on a brave face to ease someone else’s pain.
Takara is a sweet popular guy. He’s great at everything, is smart, athletic, and caring..boring. His one quality that makes him interesting is that underneath the face of this good looking boy is actually a dumb-ass. He couldn’t be more oblivious to his surroundings and to how much Hikaru likes him.
Arata, he is called the, “wild erotic prince." He was by far the best character out of the three. His spunkiness (real word?) made this interesting and humorous. Not saying that Hikaru’s many faces weren’t funny, it was just cute to witness a “bad boy” going soft. He was my favorite, though Takara also grew on me towards the end. Arata was the diverse in this manga, the variable in an equation that is known for its stability.
There are other characters, the side characters. The characters who were always hovering in the background as part of the landscape. They didn’t have a voice. Even the “Karata Fan Club” (you know there was one) didn’t have personalities. They were just there to fill empty page space. There was no girls jealous over Hikaru for stealing all the other girls spotlight and “number one” guy. Arata even went on calling two of Hikaru’s closest friend A and B. Probably to make joke on the fact that they were not important enough to be mentioned again. Actually this was just more funny than annoying. Also a little sad.
Art:
The art was very good, borderline beautiful at times. It has its funny and serious moments. It also has the moments were you can’t tell Karata and Arata apart. Which didn’t happen often but it still unnerved me, since they aren’t twins or anything. There is a lot of details that went with making their facial expressions uniquely their own and at the same time the same. Overall, the art is solid and always goes with the mood of the manga. It does have a lot of sexual content at first. It’s actually more talk than anything, but you do get to see partial nudity, so if breasts scare you, stay away.
Moe Kare could have easily ended in the middle of volume five. It was just right, the atmosphere, the circumstances (weren’t perfect but they were looking optimistic). It could have ended, I actually thought it would. Fortunately it decided to go on with its plan of making a memorable ending. Five volumes in, the story starts to get great, towering over the previous chapters cuteness.
I was surprised at the end to see that in such a light and fluffy manga, there was also depth and pain. Though it was cute and shows the bliss of first love, it also gives you a glimpse of the heart ache and of course, moving on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 6, 2011
This manga suffers from a disease called, "B.T.S" (Bad Title Syndrome) or as it's more commonly known, "I can't come up with anything so I use random words in the manga as it's title," syndrome. To be fair not only manga do this, but it was just fitting in this case.
Random title aside, this one proved to be a very nice read topped with a great ending.
A boy, a girl, and a guy trying to kill her...nothing calls for romance more than imminent death.
Yousuke Yamamoto’s life is boring. Nothing is the same after his friend dies in a motorcycle accident. He goes to school, studies,
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and his routine leaves him with an emptiness nothing seems to fill. He needs a purpose. Going home one cold winter day he sees a girl in a school uniform sitting on the floor, literally freezing her ass off. When he tries to make conversation with her, she starts talking like a crazy person about him running away before he dies. Seconds later, a man with a chainsaw appears, and Yousuke watches mesmerized as the beautiful girl fights the man until he disappears.
As he watches her fight, mesmerized, he knows-this is what he needs in his life, this will make it worthwhile. Her. If she’s in his life, it’ll no longer seem boring or meaningless. He’ll help her fight him.
Her name is Eri Yukisaki and as luck would have it, she doesn’t want his help.
Without giving spoilers:
The story line is actually very simple to understand, it's as easy as it is complex. The life that both of them are living is an easy one to relate to. Unfortunately, we've all experienced the mind dulling that is monotony. Their decisions and actions as the story unfolds give hints as to what angle the manga is going. When it gets there it is done effortlessly and smoothly.
Even if the summary doesn’t dwell on the mystery surrounding the "evil chainsaw man", or even this review, the manga is about life and all the bad things that happen that we can’t control but wish we could.
I can understand what made Yousuke cling to Eri. At first, his role reminded me a little of Takaki (5 Centimeters Per Second), he went through life with a sort of longing and a defeated way about him. As if the vacuum that life can be sucked all the happiness or hope away from him, with no plan to return it anytime soon. And although Eri didn’t always show it, since the story is told in Yousuke’s perspective, she is easy to understand and her pain was almost palpable through the story.
The characters are few; four main ones to the story actually. But it doesn’t need any more than that. Even though some people might say that this manga should or could have been longer, I don’t agree.
Why extend a good thing when it served its purpose with it’s current length?
Yousuke Yamamoto (whose name I keep saying as a robot in my head, I don't know why) and Eri, separately, wouldn’t be as dynamic as together. They both add to each others lives. Yousuke is your typical high school boy. If typical includes bad grades in school and getting sporadic fantasies about Eri. All in all he’s a pretty lonely guy. He lives with his friend, and until he met Eri, his life went by in a blur.
Eri is pretty mysterious until the last half of the manga. All we know is: her skirt needs to be longer- because she keeps flashing the chainsaw man and Yousuke, and that she can fight better than most guys. Or at least better than the lead guy of this story. She’s not annoying at all and actually has a serious demeanor.
The art was average. Although I compare the character to other manga, the art is by no way similar. It had its cringing pages: where the characters don’t look appealing, and more on the ugly side. But that effect is not lasting and it’s overall good. Even the chainsaw man was drawn to look like fear and death and it was not sloppy. The panty shots did get old, seeing that it was almost in every four pages. Fan service is everywhere, so can’t really knock it. Well, actually I can, but I understand why the mangaka felt the need to draw her panties on fighting scenes, since no skirt stays in place throughout a battle against a chainsaw wielding man(like I would know), but in other scenes, really unnecessary (not including Yousuke’s fantasies, those are ok).
The story could have actually done without the romance side--I can’t believe I just said that O_o.
It was just such a sweet take on life and feelings that even without the "love" factor it would have still kept it's kick. The romance felt a little pushed on Eri, and even though I know how they felt, it was never really explained throughout that they both saw each other that way. Meaning at the beginning, part of me felt that it was her tsundere side not showing affection.
That being said, the romance isn't forced by any means and there is no gushiness. It has action (chainsaw man) and also some mystery.
It’s short but it does the job.. Ha! I’m sure that’s a pickup line somewhere.
At the end it left me wondering, "If your sadness were to take human form, which form would it take?"
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 27, 2011
Mistakes, we all make them. Some are so small that we are taught in school to merely erase and fix, it changing the whole equation and making is solvable, others so significant that reshape our entire life, muddling up our future.
There are only 4 chapters out as of now (meaning when I wrote this review) and honestly the manga has a nice plot and a driven heroine. Though I was confused as to what direction it's going to take now, since so much happened in such a short time I’m still curious to know how she handles her predicament.
Nobara and Kotori are twins. Though their
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exterior is identical, inside they are as different as night and day. Which results in Nobara being the "loose" twin while Kotori is the perfect one. In the first page of the manga we get a glimpse into the childhood that could and maybe did shape the rest of the girls lives.
The wheels get set in motion on a trip. Moments later tragedy strikes and Nobara’s father dies because of an incident no one could have anticipated but could have been prevented. Nobara is blamed by her mother for her fathers death. Deciding not to cause her mom anymore grief, so she goes to live with her grandmother for years to come.
The only interaction she has with her mom are weekly when her twin and her switch places so that she, Nobara, can spend time with her. All it took was one time and while impersonating Nobara , Kotori gets killed. Nobara can’t tell her mom that it was her precious Kotori that was actually killed so she makes up her mind to let Nobara’s name die and stay as Kotori.
Since the beginning you get a feel for the characters: Kotori’s easy going-ness, Nobara’s pain and sad smile. Suffice it to say we don’t get to fully appreciate Kotori’s role since she is killed pretty early on, but you get to sympathize with Nobara who's small mistakes shape her life.
I wasn’t going to mention this because it seems trivial, but the fact that her cat was named “Puta” which pretty much means “female dog” (the curse word) in Spanish is kindda weird and adds a little humor to a sad scene. Well for me anyway, since I can be pretty immature when the mood is just right.
The mother wasn’t one of my favorite characters, it’s no surprise really, I just think that she was mean to her daughter and although to her it might not have seemed like it, in a teenagers eyes, she did favor the oldest daughter more. She forgot that she not only lost a husband but Nobara lost a father. She was the grownup and yet failed at her role (to protect her daughter). I can only imagine her grief must have been horrible after losing her love and that's why I can understand her reason.
The art was very nice. Normal in a way, average but sometimes average is just as beautiful. There was no apparent laziness in the art which means the mangaka enjoyed drawing it and wanted it to show.
It’s very early to tell but Nobara, or should I say, “New Kotori,” faces a few hard decisions ahead of her. She lost her twin sister and her father. Now she’s pretending to be said sister because her mothers health might not take it if she knew her “favorite” daughter is dead.
It’s never easy to bury your sister and bury yourself at the same time. Let's see what awaits.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 18, 2011
“Don’t pretend to be kindhearted. It makes me sick.”
Characters in this manga were blessed with was the ability to say bitter truths to their friends face. The truth is sometimes ugly-- deal with it, must have been the theme of this manga. After they hide it of course, nothing bangs the closet door harder than a few good truths and secrets.
Shin-Hee (girl) and Su-Yoon (boy) have known each other since kindergarten. Shin always getting picked on and Su-Yoon always fighting back and telling her to stand up for herself. Now in high school they moved on and Su-Yoon has a girlfriend, Ha-Eun, who happens to
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be Shin-Hee’s best friend.
It doesn’t help their friendship that Shin-Hee and Su-Yoon are always at each others throats about everything and anything. But underneath that hostility, under deep layers of it, Su-Yoon really cares for her, to the point where he rescues and protects her from everything, more so than his own girlfriend (Ha-Eun).
It has to be love right? Let’s be honest we all know it has to be. Even before we start reading, they're in the cover!
That’s the price we pay for reading clichéd manga. But just because it’s a cliché doesn’t mean it isn’t well done. The character drama has been done and served but the story itself is decent and enjoyable.
Like ALL manhwa there are gangs and one guy who is known for being the best and everyone fears, the top dwag, or is it dog? My slang is outdated, anyway…
The story advances smoothly and gives enough hints of what’s to be expected, but just enough to keep you interested. We learn through the scheming, secrets, and lies brought on by our very own characters.
All through the story you have a feeling that there’s something you don’t know. Something that has nothing to do with the plot itself and more to do with the characters. Which makes it hard figuring out who is really as they seem, almost impossible---nah, I was kidding, it’s not hard at all to tell who has ill intentions as opposed to good natured. In a few chapters time we know who is good or faking it. Because that’s not the focus of the story. It centers around a secret. A secret that has them trapped to each other. In between all that and the fleeting romance drama there are bad decisions, drunk confessions, and a trip somewhere (why are high schoolers always going on vacation in manga?). Which if you count all but the last that pretty much sums up my high school experience...NOT!
I have to say that the characters, not too shabby. They were a pleasant bunch. So imagine my surprise when halfway through I felt comfortable enough to put away the matches, because I wouldn’t be tempted to light my laptop on fire. Yay! For those wondering if just measly matches can get the job done without an active agent, you’re just going to have to trust me.
Chae Shin Hee is your basic protagonist. Suffice it to say that she isn’t annoying, though somewhat of a ditz (in the boyfriend department), she is an all round cluelessly nice girl who’s only fault was to have a bitch for a best friend.
As soon as we start reading, we learn two things about her:
1. She has a horrible track record with confessing (someone didn’t practice in front of the mirror).
2. She is a really ugly crier.
I was glad for the bickering and insults between her and Su-Yoon, it was refreshing and didn’t held any sexual tension at all…
Yee Su-Yoon is the infamous bad boy of the school. Currently going out with Kang Ha-Eun and a member of the Emperors Circle, which is an elite alliance whose participants are the top of the school in wealth, skills, and looks (sounds like something you’d write on a resume). He has an overall bad attitude and cant stand his girlfriend. For the people that said you usually start the disdain after you get married, wrong!
His character is pretty solid (and pretty pretty :), his intentions aren’t always clear except for the fact that he saves and can’t stand for Shin-Hee to be upset (unless it’s his doing) or crying (same).
It only really centers around a couple of characters who’s personality range from evil, manipulative, sweet, dork, and my personal favorite (NOT!) persistent (annoying).
The art is the typical Korean manhwa style. The characters didn’t look the same, at fist. As soon as new characters were introduced it went downhill, they weren’t original, not much anyway. Overall clean and though I was a little disappointed for the lack of fighting scenes since the ones available were clean, it was nice/clean art. Not exemplary but average.
After all is said and done all I have to say is, “YES! The bitch got bitch-slapped!” Petty, I know but so worth it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 11, 2011
When we’re kids we think of our parents as perfect. Some of us want to grow up to be just like them because the love they give is almost tangible. As we grow up we start to notice things that prove that theory wrong, and the people we think highly of and aspire to become are no longer them--parents got lost in our own transition. By the time we’re an adult we see them for what they really are, a perfectly flawed human who just does what they can and we go back to admiring them, if we’re lucky enough to still have
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them that is.
Looking at this manga and thinking about it now, flaws take up a whole new meaning.
The plot is simple, Shouko a high school girl with a famous mother, is tired of not being noticed as anything but her mothers daughter. When her mothers tells her that she has to move into the apartment because their house (the one Shouko lives in) is bombarded with paparazzi, she does. There she meets her mother’s new boyfriend, Ujoi, who happens to be living with her. I want to say she was attracted to him but that’s not exactly it. She is tempted by the idea of taking him away from her mother. Just to finally have one on her and so she does.
Shouko is just a teenager. She acts like a spoiler brat sometimes but at the end that’s what she is, just a teenager. As a young adult she needs a mother, someone to notice her, give her attention. But she doesn’t have that, instead she is out staged by her own mother because of being a celebrity. Constantly living in her shadow and she snaps. Her character is shallow and impulsive and she doesn’t think about anyone but her self. Actually her character if said that way is very realistically displayed.
Not to get started on the mother who I wanted to slap in every other scene. It just goes to show you that just because we age, doesn’t necessarily mean we start acting like grownups. She is a really bad example of a mother and had no redeeming qualities I could see. Not towards her own daughter anyway. Though she did take care of her material needs I guess, if that counts. Her alone takes a point off the rating for her obvious role in screwing up her own daughter, and also, I refuse to believe mothers act that way. Yeah, call me gullible.
Ujou, I’m not exactly sure of his role in all of this apart from being the guy who slept with both the mother and the daughter. I am sure he has other issues, but I stopped caring for them as words started coming out of his mouth. He didn’t seem to care about any of them and at the same time had a lost, empty look in his eyes. Maybe that was his role to begin with. To himself, he had talents (outside the bedroom) and wasn’t putting it to any use. Didn’t even know if he wanted to until they get taken away. When the option gets taken off the table is when you realize you wanted it all along. Life is cruel that way.
I felt for Shouko and her situation but her best friend's, Miu, story broke my heart. You get hints of it in the beginning because of her hostility towards men as a whole, but it’s not until a few chapters later that your suspicions are confirmed true. Being a victim of sexual abuse is one of the most horrible things that can happen to anyone, Miu knows that first hand.
She was probably harder to describe than Shouko. Not because Shouku’s problem were minuscule or not important but in my opinion pale in comparison. For the sole reason that Miu didn’t feel she could tell anyone while Shouko spoke about what was bothering her. At one point she was close to saying something but she didn’t and hoping that person would notice and ask about it, but they didn‘t.
The part that got to me was that her own best friend wasn’t there for her and was so busy with her own things that she didn’t bother to look Miu’s way when there was clearly something wrong and the signs were always there.
To be taken advantage of by the people expected to protect you is brutal for a young girl, any girl, any person actually. I can’t say that Miu’s actions were justified in what she did, having not been in that position. But I felt for her character, more so at times than the protagonist who didn’t care for anyone but herself.
The art on this one, is average. If I think about it, really think about it, the art was mostly insignificant. Yes it matters and we know it’s there, obviously, but the bigger picture was these four people and what they were going through. Although I have to hand it to the mangaka for the making them look their despair in their eyes. I saw it, if anything else.
I want to say that the ending tied everything up in a nice bow and doves flew by as cherry blossom petals fell to the ground. The ending, it wasn’t like that at all. For some characters, what happened was merely a speed bump in their drive to work. For others it was the words, “To be continued,” at the end of a book. For the unlucky ones, is killing the monsters in a nightmare and opening up the door to freedom only to find it’s another quest. Either way the ending sucked. It didn’t tell us anything. We might as well have paid for the movie, liked it enough, and then the power goes out and nothing. At the end people just walked it off, like if it was nothing. Except for the ones who got screwed, metaphorically speaking.
What I got from this manga isn’t something necessarily in the subject, but it did make me appreciate my own family a little more. So, appreciate what you have today, because it may not be here tomorrow. That includes people.
The Extra Story “Angel Night” is a more uplifting story and yet still sad. Which I think is the recurring theme of this author…
It was about a girl who's life isn't going as she hopes and being on the brink of suicide gets scent an angel to collect her soul. The characters are better in this one, by better I mean less hostile and evil.
I won’t go into depths on this one. If you get something free with your purchase, just take it…
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 9, 2011
"Everything I’ve done up to now has led me here.”
I had started a review on this manga when I was half way through it. Then as my mouth was hanging open at the end, I realized- my review was crap. After finishing the manga, it was nothing like I thought it was. So I began writing again knowing I would still come up short.
But I'll start at the beginning before I tell you the end…
Being human is hard enough; getting to know yourself and finding out who you are and where you’re going. For Mashiro that’s even harder. See, Mashiro is half woman and half
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man, that’s how he was born. He is a woman from the waist down but a man from the waist up.
One random day at school he get’s a call from a teacher to follow go to the infirmary. The teacher explains to him about the extra class he needs to graduate that take place every week. In this class, which you do through your dreams, you have to find and triumph over your personal obstacles in order to find the key that opens the door that enables you to leave the dream world behind through graduation. Only after you completely find what you need to find and free your soul of the thing bothering you will you succeed. The trick lies in the details since in the dreams you can’t lie and are always yourself, meaning the person you are deep in your heart, your true form will be incorporated in the dream. That part is easy for the readers and for Mashiro, well know what his dilemma is about, his gender.
If you lose in the dream is because your soul is weak and you will have to redo for as long as it takes until you conquer it. But don’t worry you are never alone there, there are other students with their own quest similar and yet different to yours there.
Wanting something to be true against all odds, even to the point of trying to change your own mind - is the beginning.
Accepting yourself, all of yourself, and coming to terms with reality - is the ending... or is it?
All of the characters in this manga are broken in one way or another. There is no one that travels the road called life unscathed here. Bearing that in mind it’s the courage and not to mention a great ending that makes this manga just, “wow.”
It didn’t start off like other manga do. That should have been my first clue that Houkago Hokenshitsu was going to be a peculiar and yet shocking ride. I didn’t know why at fist there weren’t any characters I liked, they were all selfish, shallow, and hurtful, not deep enough to warrant not even my sympathy. I just felt detached, even from our very own protagonist. Right off the bat Mashiro befriends Kureha and attracts Sou. The manga is dark and yet light, touching on serious topics with a suaveness that's almost insulting to the darkness of the subjects. The manga balances the time spent on the dream world and on the real world immensely well, you never get bored waiting for one or the other. There are secrets and people you try and guess about only to be wrong.
Mashiro perceived being a girl as the weaker of the sex. He wants to be a boy for all the wrong reasons. Because they’re strong and have more freedom. This is where me and this story clashed at first. I thought he was just being sexist. He was confused to the extreme but can you blame him? He was walking around with girl and guy parts…high school is hard enough as it is. I couldn’t do with his character at first, he wasn’t honest to anyone, not even himself. Which just ends up in a lot of people getting hurt. He wants to be a boy, he dooms himself with the thought that it either has to be one or the other. I think it’s because it never occurred to him that he didn’t have to choose, he was half and half. He grows though and that’s all I can say on his behalf.
Kureha role frustrated me. I think she was weak all around until she wasn’t. But even then I just couldn’t help not liking her, the damage was done. I can whine about her until the cows come home (which is a long time since I don’t live in a ranch…or own a cow) but she redeems herself. Not enough for me to like her but enough to get my sympathy. She wanted to be loved and protected. Which isn’t so bad.
Sou what can I say about him? The dude has serious issues. He is a complex character . He was looking for what we’re all looking for a t some point, someone to save us. That shinning light at the end of dark tunnel that leads us home, to safety.
It’s through the dreams that Mashiro meets many new classmates that are also wanting to graduate and in the dream realm. Of course not all of them look like themselves since how their hearts are is how they resemble. Suffice it to say not everyone is nice or pretty. But all of them are interesting in some way, though not all are necessary.
The one decent character that I thought was human enough was towards the end and he was there for a short time only but he did end up having his own chapters, so not all is lost. His feelings were hidden because his future was already set and the real him, didn’t want any of it. But he didn’t want to disappoint so he bit his tongue and moved forward. What made him more balanced to me as a character though was that we got to see him interact wit his family which made him just a little more real to me than the rest like the the frustrating Kureha.
The art is unusual on Mashiro’s face sometimes, like lumpy. It also messed up sometimes on the characters clothes not being consistent throughout the same scenes. Also the faces where not proportioned right or sometimes the mouth wasn’t centered right…it just didn’t look right. If you consider that some of the images were kindda creepy than the art fits just fine in the whole scheme of things. One thing can be said for sure, a bubbly art wouldn’t have done this one justice, so I would keep it as is.
The ending: I didn’t expect it. Which is weird because there are few manga that surprise me. It answered enough questions to make it ok but not nearly enough to not think about and try and guess at, which results in writing this review at 2 a.m because you’re wondering of the “if.”
It’s about not being yourself and being what everyone expects you to be. To the point where you don’t even recognize yourself and feel lost. Trying to find it, that is the journey. A twisted and bumpy one, but very well worth it. A cruel dream some might say but I think the nightmare was necessary at least when you wake up from it you know you lived through watching it and experiencing it. Like a character said, that it wasn’t the size of the problem that makes a difference but the strength to overcome it. It was all a journey to accepting yourself.
I have to say that I feel better about this review, because although I have told you a lot of the manga at the same time I haven’t told you anything. You think you know but you don't. Where do the mind games start?
The moral of this story-- We’re all fucked up somehow. Nah, though it is true I think it was more of a, “In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life. It goes on.”
“It really was just a dream.”
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 3, 2011
There’s only one way to describe this manga:
Warning! This manga is NOT suitable for people under 18.
This Manga Contains One or More of the Following:
Graphic Sexual Situations
Non-Consensual Sex (you might as well just say rape)
Well, they have an active sex life. I don’t know if to be appalled for the students who sat and touched the desks they got busy on or applaud them for getting it on in almost every room in the school.
It starts with Seri, who has been doing karate since she can remember. Now a high school student she wants nothing more than to have a boyfriend. Apparently guys
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don’t like a girl who can defend herself and who are strong. Wanting to find love she quits karate in order to become girl-lier or at least make people believe she is.
Everything was going according to plans. She had changed herself and had a group date where she would hopefully meet a nice guy and fall in love…yeah. She is surprised to see Tamaki, her ex karate partner from when they were kids is there. Weird sparks reunite and he forces her hand to a karate match. If she wins he’ll keep her secret, if he wins, Seri becomes his slave/pet.
Now, I’m not against smut but there are some things that have to be said, so readers be warned. You will not only get your eyes de-virginized by reading the manga but also your innocence taken away when you decide that some characters have no purpose and might as well walk into an oncoming train. Too harsh?
It starts of as a regular story where they boy likes a girl and girl is oblivious. It’s all fun and games until they get sexual. The story is nice at the beginning and at the end. The middle was jumbled and repetitive.
Seri and Tamaki’s relationship is hot (in all sense of the word). They even have scenes where Tamaki forces Seri to do things, sometimes sexual, that she doesn’t want to do but ends up wanting to do (let‘s call that, sort-of-rape?). But since she enjoys it at the end, it’s all good?
The manga then tries to get serious about the rape theme, sort of, by bringing in characters and giving them a reason and a rhyme for their evil-ness and calling the rape, rape.
Only that when certain characters rape it’s bad, but when others do it, it isn’t. Get it yet? Yeah the manga is a smutty one
The girl who is known for her karate training does next to nothing to stop or get away when she is being molested. Maybe there’s a pain threshold that activates her skills…
It’s a revolving door of guys wanting Seri. They want her so bad they can’t help themselves and they try to get her by force. Tamaki saves her at the last minute and is the epitome of a perfect boyfriend by not caring that Seri's body enjoys it (it meaning rape-sex).
Same goes for the Tamaki-- girls get smitten, try to kill his girlfriend and it ends up putting them in the mood, because nothing puts someone in the mood more than psychotic girls bound to get in your pants and kill your girlfriend. Let’s not forget the characters that try and break up the couple because of an old grudge, every manga needs one of those.
There’s a plot in there somewhere, hold on let me move all the sex scenes aside…there it is. Love. They love each other and can’t keep their hands off. It gets back on track in the last two or three chapters and the ending was beautiful, now if we could only change the characters, except Tamaki.
The characters started out good. Some of them had the ability to be great actually. Seri and Tamaki began strong. Literally, she was top girl in karate he was the best. You could tell they liked each other and were sweet about it at first. Before it got very sexual and it took over. All the characters that appeared had an ulterior motive and were after sex, not love.
We had characters who were great in a way, they were evil and did evil things really well. To the point of you disliking them. Then it gets turned around and you hear their story and you can’t help but feel bad. They just play with your emotions. Which is a quality of a strong character.
The art is nice and average. Nothing overly beautiful about it, but the characters are drawn nicely. Though it is the type of manga where some characters look the same. Even being rated R I don’t recall it showing nudity at all, so it at least was true on that.
Would I want to see the anime version? Not really, well, if it‘s one of those anime that is nothing like the manga, YES.
It’s also not a manga I’d recommend to someone who wants a romance or a comedy. The romance is there but it’s second to other things (sex). It’s not an innocent love. It did start out that way, kindda, sorta, maybe. But at the end all you remember is the warning labels and the sex. It’s just ecchi with a sweet ending. Love's Supreme Principle? Really?
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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