'Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi' was a surprise. Shoujo mangas are my guilty pleasure and most of the time when I feel like reading one, I am not expecting much form it. With this manga, I once again came to the conclusion that finding something precious when you are not looking for it is great pleasure.
Story is quite simple, nothing extraordinary but it has kind of fresh sensation to it. Emphasis is placed on characters' emotions but at the same time they are not overstated. At some points I had a feeling that mangaka is perpously refering to some cliches of shoujo mangas, such as when main male character is rescuing the heroine. Once you're reaching those scenes, you are starting to think 'this again', but than it turns another way round and brings feeling of respect for the author. (9)
Art is nice and very pleasent. Again - nothing extraordinary, yet satisfying. (8)
Characters are defenitely strong point here. They are developed and at the same time not exaggerated. Supporting characters weren't abandoned, what is actualy something quite rare - sometimes after reading shoujo manga I cannot recall anything about heroine's bff and here their features are stated clearly, same for the rest supporters. Lastly, what is most important for me, they are presented in a way that makes you feel connected with them very easely - it goes for me at least. I cared about each and every one of them to the point that I wanted happy ending for everyone. (10)
I enjoyed this manga very, very much. This was the first story in a very long time that gave me such feels. I laughed, I cried my eyes out, I was hoping, I was excited, I was anxious. At some point I wanted to drop reading for few days to calm down, but I kept myself only for about an hour. In the end I swallowd 34 chapters in two days. The worst thing is lack of katharsis due to the fact that manga is still being published but obviously this is not affecting my opinion. (10)
'Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi' is gentle, bittersweet story with no breathtaking plot twists but still giving hunger for more. I recommand this mostly to those, who are looking for something authentic and emotional with a pinch of comedy. If you are fan of slice of life this story is total must.
