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Jan 2, 2014
Gozen Reiji... is a romance shoujo read with the main story about a girl wanting to become a bartender for her own romantic aspirations spanning three short chapters along with two unrelated oneshots. The overall enjoyment you derive from this title will depend heavily on how avid a shoujo-romance manga fan you are, so while I found myself largely bored and underwhelmed with the pace and direction of the main story, others may appreciate the delicacy of the characters and their development and maybe even enjoy the (somewhat) novel Cayote Ugly-esque premise of becoming an apprentice bartender and romantic trysts and entanglements which pursue.
Art: The
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mangaka's art style is clearly geared towards a shoujo audience, large girly eyes and features, good looking bishies and cute surroundings. It lacks sharpness and feels a little dated with the hairstyles, backgrounds and overall style, but it's certainly not unappealing. Facial expressions weren't groundbreaking, ditto with the fashion depicted or the actions of the various characters, which were appropriate for the plot but mediocre at best. I wouldn't pick up this volume for the impeccable art standards.
Story and Characters: The main story is simple, slow paced and not too unrealistic. Karin has this fascination with all this bar-tending and after a birthday visit to an upscale bar with a (cute of course!) bartender who floors her a little with his visual flair, she can't help but apply to work there alongside him. (Groundbreaking stuff this! Where do mangakas dream up such novel situations?) While it avoids being too maudlin or sappy which is a relief because that can really ruin a good shoujo read, the dialogues and execution aren't laced with too much humour or sharp wit. It's easy to get bored with the endless inner monologues which repeat the same facts over and over and start browsing panels just waiting to get the action packed bit.
The two oneshots are a completely different ball game here. The first one revolves around a college aged couple and how the heroine is a little dissatisfied with the lack of conflict in their relationship (yes ladies, there are such thankless females out there!) so she decides to test her boyfriend's patience a bit. It had potential, but the wimpy character development and frustrating lack of employing fun situations to further the plot leave the reader a tad disappointed.
The second oneshot has some serious teeth to the story. A particularly popular and unabashed playerette working at an office lets her corporate mask slip for just a moment at a vulnerable point and has to pay when a naughty colleague decides to exploit her slip up and declare her his steady girlfriend. But this means she will need to give up her constant queue of suitors! How vexing! Why would the hero put her in such a situation... it must be because he already likes her right? Well then, she'll just expose this little crush of his and make him admit defeat in the process!
THIS is what really sets this story apart from the regular shoujo lot. The heroine is a very self aware and competent gal, willing to put her ego aside, put in the effort and remain constantly on her toes to one up her temporary Romeo. While it's a oneshot and pacing and character development can only be so much, it's still an enjoyable and fun read, if only due to the determined female lead's perseverance to never give up!
Romace, Doki Doki and Smut: Meh. Nothing too moving or memorable. The romance of the story and oneshots, while sweet and chaste will not really leave you breathless or gasping at the sexiness of it all. The intimacy and affectionate aspect of the story has a bit an "Aww shucks" feel to it in some places, but nothing super captivating which makes for low re-readability.
Overall B-: While an OK read, I wouldn't recommend this volume to die hard shoujo romantics, with the exception of the second one shot "Striving Little Devil" for its novelty and witty character development.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 18, 2013
The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.
Yowamushi Meikyuu is a quick shoujo/school life read, possibly about romance but somehow a little Slice of Life-y too. Brought to us by the Queen Of Shoujo Smut Minami Kanan, it affords us a look into the life of Izumi, our heroine who like everyone has a thing for the resident school Prince, Kamo-kun but tries the indirect angle of approaching his middle school friend Torahiko-kun for background info on Kamo so that she can casually forge a deeper friendship with Kamo than her competition. And maybe along the way her object of affection changes to
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the reticent and tsundere-ish Torahiko. She goes about continuing the farce thinking she'll get a reaction out of Torahiko one way or another and make some magic happen between them, but why is Torahiko so damn enigmatic?! And what is with this new girl in school suddenly endearing herself to him despite her Gloomy Gussy ways?
The art is realistic (well shoujo realistic!) and appealing. Cute actions and gestures lend an overall happy tone to the story.
Characters on the other hand are not what I encounter often at all. The heroine is far from a typical besotted leading lady ready to blush and swoon at a moment's notice. Instead she's sneaky and confident in her ways while being a genuinely cool person to everyone around her. The hero is interesting in that his actions and motivations are never made crystal clear which is what carries the story forward. Also he's not given to sweeping anyone into his arms simply coz they grinned in his direction, which makes for a bit more realistic, if less quixotic feel to the plot. Check on the character growth aspect as well. Possibly, you'll walk away with a valuable life lesson yourself.
The real reason you should read this story is not the art or the romance though. You should invest ten minutes in this oneshot because it's a very different and alarmingly honest look at love and relationships and every disappointed shoujo reader who desperately wants a heroine they can look upto and admire will walk away satisfied after finishing this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 17, 2013
Soraoto is a short shoujo/fantasy/supernatural story about angels who shoulder the responsibility of escorting moribund souls to heaven (since apparently they've never heard of reapers). At any rate, it's a simple enough premise, but what lends it a heartwarming edge is the heroine, currently in her third year of training, who has far too much of a conscience about her task and befriends the souls she's supposed to escort, exposing her status as a messenger of death and generally flouting protocols willy nilly, causing all sorts of troublesome situations for her higher ups, some of whom end up charmed by her infectious optimism and exuberance.
While
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this isn't strictly a romance title, there are a few elements of chaste affections here and there which eventually develop into a full fledged romance by the end of the two volumes. The core of the story revolved around the young angel Shinohara, her flailing antics which constantly land her in a soup, forcing the hand of her reluctant knight-in-shining-armour Tsumugi and how despite his best efforts to maintain a strictly working relationship of mentor and student with Shinohara, he unwittingly ends up as something more.
Art is beautiful and very laugh-out-loud funny in humorous or ironic panels, if a bit cluttered and shoujo-esque with the large eyes and crazy length ponytails. The bishounen however are drawn very sharp and ethereal at the same time, making it hard to look away, drawing you further into this mixed up student/angel universe. Backgrounds are pretty threadbare most of the time, but the expressions, actions and crazy over-the-top gestures of the lead heroine more than make up for anything you might find remiss.
Characters are a strong suit with Takamiya Satoru's titles. Originally very obstinate, colourful and full of vigour, both Tsumugi and Shinohara mature while becoming more vulnerable, compassionate and interdependent (perhaps a bit more lovey-dovey?) by the end of 8 chapters. While character growth and development is subtle, you'll still enjoy the bickering, the physical comedy and the constant chastising poor Shinohara is subjected to at the hands of all her seniors yielding comical results and outrageously offended expressions from her side!
Initially I was a bit turned off at the fast pace of the story. You're sort of expected to understand all the nuanced workings of the plot from the get go without much preamble, but by the end of the first chapter you get the hang of things and are able to keep up with why certain characters behave the way they do and their motivations and respective agendas. Maybe this is the mangaka's way of weeding out lazy readers? This initial challenge gives way to a quirky universe where the rules aren't all set in stone and unpredictable actions, some comedic soul searching (see how I made a pun there? Angel's are supposed to be searching for souls on earth but they give into a little Soul Searching of their own? No? Hmm tough crowd!) and surprising developments will keep you engrossed till the very end.
Overall B+: I While I enjoyed the story for its art and humor, it's not replete with doki doki moments so hardcore romance enthusiasts may give it a miss. Others interested in the behind the scenes working of heaven may find this take on the soul-escorting business quite entertaining and worthwhile through the eyes of the adorably flawed, but certainly not annoying Shinohara.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 17, 2013
The Prince's Cactus is a short story about a very feisty and headstrong heroine and her trysts with an elitist Adonis of a Greek "Prince" when she visits Santorini for her sister's wedding. What sets it apart from the plethora of drama romances oozing out of your MAL/MU account is the characters, the bite to their snarky dialogues and interactions, the art and the overall doki doki you experience as their affair unfolds.
Let's start off with art since it's one of the primary reasons one would read light shoujo fluff. Well, it makes you weep! It makes you have a mini orgasm in your rotating
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chair. It makes you inhale deeply while your index finger hovers shakily over the (Next) arrow button, as you're unsure if you really want to stop looking at what's currently on the screen in front of you!
In short, it DELIVERS as far as breathtaking art goes. I think this is important not just from an aesthetic standpoint here, but because the story revolves around royalty and class differences to a certain extent and the style of art, expressions and background adopted really helps emphasize those aspects.
The story and characters are beyond reproach in this one. The only contention I can imagine some readers experience is that the tale wrapped up far too soon and they wanted to experience it unfold over many more volumes rather than two short ones. I agree!
Both the heroine and the bishounen are confident and acerbic in their approach. Their no-nonsense attitude clashes constantly and makes for very amusing banter, physical chemistry and palpable romance. The dialogue is either well scanlated or very well written and would make me squeal or reach for a cushion to cover my face because I couldn't possibly imagine the mortification the other party would experience when faced with such audacious repartee! In summary, you cannot put down this story until you've inhaled each and every beautiful chapter as fast as your internet connection will allow!
The short eight chapter are well paced, have a hilarious one panel omake at the end which makes you snort milk/your beverage-of-choice out of your nostrils, and extremely satisfying, whetting your appetite for further high quality romance reads. The Prince's Cactus plays off a bit like a Harlequin Romance, with the leads at loggerheads initially and warming up to each other over the course of the story with sufficient conflicts thrown their way to bring them together, but it's far from a corny cheesfest.
Overall A: I highly recommend this title, both for shoujo romance and clever character-centric comedy enthusiasts. It will be over before you know it, and if like me, you get hooked to the artist's style, well then... Welcome to the dark side! We have romances to make your pulse quicken!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 17, 2013
Love Maniac is an anthology of 4 shoujo romances, oneshots that veer away from typical love at first sight tropes and each story explores a different type of "Prince" who falls in love with the Protagonist over the duration of the richly woven plot.
The first story is seriously fun, with a witty heroine, the plot being realistic and very relatable, and high-larious dialogues in some panels, or maybe it's just the scanlators doing a bang up job. The heroine's selfish antics really do amuse over and over. And their expressions.... don't even get me started! How can you create that cornucopia of feelings on a
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black and white face! Great art. Must read.
The second story is interesting, it's a bit more trying that your normal fluff coz the guy's a tsundere without the dere part. And the girl's a glutton for punishment. It's not healthy, their relationship, at least to an outsider; but it's something that makes you wake up and take notice that in reality, you may keep hoping for a Prince to resurface from the person you place on a pedestal, but it may never completely happen for you. It's a skippable read, nothing too horrid about it, but the doki doki is just so so, and it's more shoujo or slice of life than romance through and through.
Third story is cute in itself, but I like how it thumbed its nose at shoujo manga stereotypes even further, which associate looks with personality types. Here a prince type character has a past that far rivals his current circumstance and a sweet megane shoujo who isn't too diffident to speak her mind and is moderately popular, outgoing and a genuinely nice person throughout. Aahh a breath of fresh air it was too! Their story was littered with reactions that surprised me and endeared the characters further in my mind along with generating sympathy for the progress of their relationship. Must read.
Fourth story is again a bit on the tame side, it shows possibly the opposite of the love-at-first-sight phenomenon. It's more mature and realistic perhaps, but nothing seriously engrossing. I only finished reading it coz I couldn't leave an unfinished story in the middle. Art in this one is OK, 4/10 maybe. Skippable.
PS Smut is mostly non existent in most of the stories, the mangaka just tapped on a bit in the last pages when she remembered "Oh this is supposed to be shelved in the smut category right?" First story has a bit of cute PG13 stuff, and the second an intimate scene or two, but nothing more.
Overall B: Read the first and third story and leave feeling refreshed to take on the world, hopefully leaving a couple of prejudices you previously held about girly bishounen or megane shoujos behind!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 14, 2013
Prince of Parched Love is a smutty shoujo romance with cluttered art that feels a little too 90's, and relies heavily on the aforementioned smut to really delve into intricate storyweaving.
It consists of 6 chapters, the first four revolving around a particularly horndog working-class couple who don't know how to keep it in their pants and the rest are high school based romances.
Who should read this: Smut-o-olics and those in the mood for abruptly melodramatic settings leading to prosaic lovemaking. Seriously. I didn't even raise my eyebrows, that's how uninspired the surprisingly detailed smut was!
Who should avoid this: Pretty much any self respecting shoujo romance
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otaku who wants to read an absorbing tale with character development and interesting dialogues.
As the first story starts off, some elements just don't seem to fit it and seem far too dramatic or serious to be part of such a small series. And then all of a sudden, the crazy drama build up just ends and gives way to explicit sex! O_o Despite getting enough validation and plenty of orgasms, the heroine Kiyouki (if you can call her that, I would prefer 'female in a much luckier circumstance than is necessary') seems annoyingly insecure/needy. It's interesting since it's setup in the office rather than at high school, which maybe makes it a titillating read for gossipy secretaries. The male lead isn't all that bad, just normal, but hot damn, you get fed up with that wimpy ass Kiyouki soon! The first four stories about this office going couple feel mostly like a lot of filler before surprisingly unfulfilling lovemaking scenes. Dialogues and story are seriously the last thing on the mangaka's mind here.
Fifth story had a bit of a redeeming character with a slightly sensible heroine who held her own for most of the story. Helped that the hero wasn't a brute as much as just hopelessly besotted with her ^^ Cute enough premise and funny in bits. Not too witty in terms of repartee or execution though.
Sixth story starts out funny with a bit of an attitude, I may have enjoyed myself a little too much at how the token rebound treated Haruka the heroine! Most girls tend to keep all their ugly thoughts to themselves, but she lets it all out, and boy it works well for her! This story is actually pretty decent since it shows surprising character growth through the use of clever flashbacks. By now you'll have gotten used to the art and may enjoy the story a bit more than it probably deserves!
Overall B: I would recommend the last story in this anthology to diehard shoujo romance nerds who appreciate a bit of smut in their manga, and would caution those embarking on the entire volume to leave your expectation of a riveting storyline at home!
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 13, 2013
Only one of the stories in Sentimental's been scanlated so far, this review is for Black x Black.
The story is an interesting premise where a young, lonely girl runs into a boy who claims he's a demon but he's lost something important which makes him vulnerable to losing his powers; she refuses to believe him but wants to help him all the same. He becomes a part of her daily existence and ends up enrolling at her high school causing some humourous situations for both of them. This may sound interesting, but I was pretty much bustling through the pages, searching for something concrete to
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happen. Can you guess how that turned out? YAWN.
Art: This oneshot is HORRIBLY drawn. There's no point in burying that in euphemisms since art is one of the major draws with shoujo readers. Hand and face proportions are out of whack in certain scenes and overall, both male and female leads end up looking unattractive. Actions and backgrounds are drawn well, which is such a waste, since I would recommend that you give this one a miss unless you want to reminisce about how alone and isolated you felt in high school sometimes and want to relive those memories and a neat resolution in some clumsily drawn 45 pages.
Overall C: Though it's got the potential to be a touching story especially if you can relate to the crushing insignificance or loneliness that either of the leads felt, I was largely unimpressed with the superfluous and banal way the execution was handled. Its an uninspiring read, devoid of humour or intensity, one you're better off having left alone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 13, 2013
Beast Boyfriend seems promising from the looks of the first three chapters. Pacing seems good, characters are a little more 2D than they generally are in Aikawa Saki's stories and I haven't really seen any annoying insecure shoujo stereotypes surfacing their ugly head, so I'm quite a happy camper here!
Who should read this: Dedicated Aikawa Saki fans (for her art), shoujo romance enthusiasts and anyone looking to spend 20 minutes looking at neat art and relive their own high school insecurities or traumas relating to shyness or being teased.
Who should avoid it: Seriously discerning shoujo readers who have no patience for mediocre leads, bullying
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bishounen or a story which isn't progressing at a quick pace. Anyone who is sick of high school romedies with skewed love triangles.
Our heroine Himari has recently shifted back to her hometown once her mom got remarried (are you already sensing some of the plot points here?). Enter rougish sexpot of a stepson, Keita who just happens to be a past perpetrator, causing Himari's diffidence around boys because he teased and bullied her a bit four years ago.
Both are OBVIOUSLY classmates/deskmates as well and their day to day interactions, how Himari handles herself around him despite his impish sense of humor and how he decides to win her over make up the majority of the first three chapters. Up until now, no one has had unnecessary doki doki moments simply because one of the characters did something kind out of human decency (which is again, something BIG in Aikawa-verse!). Our male lead Keita seems to be suffering from some inner turmoil when it comes to his relationship with her current "girlfriend" vs his new stepsister so that might make for interesting drama soon.
So far, I haven't seen any reason to drop or throw this manga down in frustration. The build up is actually a wee bit tantalising to be honest and I'm looking forward to reading more. If handled at a proper pace, giving satellite characters a personality, and avoiding unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings this could turn out to be a pretty decent read!
Art is really good; Keita looks downright smexy with his Man Bangs all over his face and his pierced ears and many many wrist accessories (am I staring at him a bit too much?), no one is sweeping others into their arms every other moment, and expressions especially the chibi kind lend to a fun read.
Characters seem well thought out with a bit of depth. Both leads have a few Jane Austen-esque prejudices but they're also willing to give each other a chance, they have attitude to spare since they're teens and you giggle at how they brood around their respective others or family when they're peeved. I haven't heard anything asinine come out of their speech/thought bubbles yet and some of their intentions are still shrouded so the mystery isn't too bad, makes for an intriguing read.
Overall B+: I see some promise in this title and would recommend it to hardcore shoujo romantics who are in the mood for some well drawn stories. Not much has been scanlated so far though, so you may have to rein in your curiousity which will definitely get the better of you given the direction the story's taking.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 13, 2013
Aikawa Saki does it again! A tale of insecurity and self doubt through the eyes of a confused high school aged shoujo. To mix things up, she's added an elder sister who casts a wide shadow over poor Sora Suzuki (our protagonist), a couple of bishounen, two of whom have a past with said sister and some unreasonable teenage angst which will propel the story forward.
Who should read this manga: Younger/first time shoujo romance/high school fans who enjoy a well drawn series and aren't too discerning about plots and storylines.
Who should avoid it: Most seasoned shoujo readers. Romance is almost nonexistant till chapter 3, the
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same issue about Sora feeling incompetent when compared to her sister keeps coming up and her inner stream of consciousness borders on annoying.
The story is about Sora's attempts to fit in and have a normal fun high school experience away from her sister's infamy so that she doesn't constantly need to hear "Your oneesan is so..." or "I don't like you, I prefer your oneesan". You get the gist. Pacing seems slow-ish, though that's always been a bit of an issue in Aikawa Saki's works. Stuff which is of little consequence has 12 pages devoted to it, but character dynamics and chemistry which needs to be explored may not be broached in the first volume at all!
Art is A+ per usual. Nice clean bishies and panels, not too flowery, fun backgrounds, cute chibi expressions and gestures. Eyes are big, but don't veer into annoying category.
Story seems OK, I've yet to see how it'll pan out. Three chapters in, it seems this may just turn out to be more mature than Aikawa Saki's previous works where the hero simply claims he loves the protagonist more than anyone else and everything is good with the world. Here, one of the bishies is actually trying to tackle the root cause of Sora's apprehensions and *gasp* character growth looks imminent!
No doki doki so far, in fact it's rather on the dull side, but refreshingly, there aren't too many tears or welled up eyes for Sora either, so I'll take that as a mixed blessing ^^
Overall, there isn't any particularly spectacular feature in this title that will make you want to procrastinate whatever work you're SUPPOSED to be doing and devote an hour or so to reading this. I feel you should wait for this one to finish with scanlation and then maybe if you're a fan of the art, go through both volumes at one go. For now, employ the wait-and-watch strategy and enjoy other works by Aikawa sama like Houkago, Sensei to Koi ni Ochiru.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 12, 2013
*Sob* I'm literally bawling here even though I've read this story countless times, yet every time I read it, it manages to be a cathartic, purifying experience for me.
Dear Miwako plays the piano at a church and is slated to play for an upcoming wedding there. During this time, a breathtakingly beautiful demon (his words not mine, to me he looked like the most elegant angel!) happens to catch sight of her lovely hands which churn out such haunting timbre. He develops what can only be called a hand fetish and thus starts the relationship between these two uncannily matched souls.
The art, as is usually
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the case with Shigeyoshi sama, is beyond gorgeous. Long elegant fingers, faces that make you want to weep at what god has given you in comparison, and actions, expressions and gestures as sharp and on track as a ballet performance. Panels are clean and no nonsense, but invoke an ethereal feel.
Dialogue is funny in bits, touching and sincere for the most part. It invokes feelings you never knew you had and will definitely make you shed a tear or ten. Within 40 pages, there are directions the story takes which you couldn't see coming a mile away, which is refreshing and lends to high re-readability.
Overall the story is a definitely MUST read, preferably every couple of months or so. If you're feeling blue or just zombie like and want something that'll ring some emotion into you, this is exactly the anti-Xanax that the doctor prescribed! I cannot gush enough about the loveliness of the characters, story and the non traditional romantic feelings that it will unearth in you!
This little tale will never fail to move even the most jaded of us, those who feel that in this crazy messed up world, love and sacrifice are notions no more or anyone who's just been through their own unrequited loves and knows the pangs that go with it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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