**Uso to Koi no Hajimari can be found only in Koibana (done separately from Suki ni Naru Made Matte) as part of a collection, again if you're looking on mangafox.
First off the art is amazing. The stylization and the detail is commendable and marks the expression of a true artist. The stories are refreshing even though at times they fall back into some cliched elements. It was fun to read this mangaka's work and she's definitely earned a position on my favorite people list (she's definitely kicking butt and turning into my favorite mangaka (great female leads and even better male leads)). That being said, I'll break down some of the stories.
Suki ni Naru Made Matte (First one-shot):
So we have a geeky girl who is ignored and finds herself going through high school not only without a boyfriend but ultimately inconsequential. She has no friends and spends her time alone. Then unfortunately or really fortunately for her she ends up destroying the most popular, handsome, and coolest guy's, in her homeroom, phone. So she's blackmailed into hanging with him and becoming his slave. Once again this touches on an unhealthy start of a relationship but this has so much comedy that you ignore it. Plus he doesn't treat her like a slave, as found in so many others. He actually "improves" her. This of course touches on...why wasn't she good as she was...but you come to understand that he always had a thing for her. This is great because he always liked a wallflower but showed her that she wasn't in the only way he could and then in the wake of this he had a confident woman who got rid of her insecurities. So this story was a bit more developing in the blackmail front and so were the others in these one shots.
Deatta Toki ni Boku wa Mou Inai (Second one-shot):
Ahh...the ghost story. It was a nice read and I was happy it was there. Another inconsequential girl has always been admired but her admirer is now a ghost. The biggest thing for him was to get her to open up and learn to love. He succeeded. She wasn't cold hearted as she was hard hearted. She didn't want to open up and get hurt but the lead male was able to break down those walls. The lead male was fun and admirable. He had a fun loving and sweet personality and damn does he go through drama to get her love. I adored this one.
Uso to Koi no Hajimari (Third one-shot):
Just another brilliant one shot. A girl ends up pretending she's her friend to meet the old (male) playmate of said friend. The story just in and of itself is unoriginal but the story is so sweet. The lead female is so lovable and cute. It felt like she was sort of forced into taking up the position. I can tell you that I actually thought she would NOT be friends with a girl like that. The girl she was pretending to be seems popular and really pretty and totally one of the "in-crowd" cats, she seems down to earth, not so pretty just average and a good person. Anyway she takes up the role and meets a total hottie. He's like your hot next door neighbor. For old school ladies that would be John Cusack, for not old school more like Shia LaBoeuf. Uber cute and he's extremely intelligent. What makes this story so cool is the twist at the end...so it takes an unoriginal story and gives it some spice. I loved it.
1/3 no Kareshi (Fourth one-shot):
Another crush fic with a romantic pair I love (I won't tell you what that is or it will blow the story). This was the most commendable story of the bunch actually. To be honest I liked this one a great deal. I liked the lead girl who wasn't in love with any guy or crushing on any one but wanted to fall madly in love with someone and until she saw him she was an untouchable. Basically she was independent and wanted love but wasn't actively seeking it. Then we have lead guy who misles the girl (blackmail through her own stupidity) and you're wondering what he's about and where he's coming from and at times worried about his motive...and you're fairly surprised by it. The build up for this story was good with nice female lead. Not enough on the male lead to gather much info but overall it was like a reverse Itazura na Kiss with a twist. Utterly enjoyable.
I definitely recommend this read. The mangaka is phenomenal with fun stories and nice artistic skill.
