Hatsu Haru is a shining jewel in the treasure chest of shoujo romances in a school setting. Though I’m possibly getting a bit ahead of myself given its newness (the first chapter released nary 10 days ago) I cannot help but be drawn to its novelty, its gaiety and its overall awesome-sauce-ness!

The plot starts off with our *gasp* male lead and protagonist Kai Ichinose enjoying a blissfully blessed high school life, filled with girls throwing themselves at him given his natural charm and good looks. He knows he’s got it, he wants to flaunt it, and no amount of scolding from his well meaning classmate will convince him otherwise! Enter Takanashi with her boyshorts-under-her-short-skirt and knockout punches to dispense some much needed justice to Kai for breaking her good friend’s heart with his ladykiller ways. Without ruining too much of the story for you, the majority of chapter 1 revolved around the interactions between these two, a bit of background on their relationship and how Kai is constantly left reeling as he is unable to figure out Takanashi and just what makes her tick.

To say the art is good would be akin to me calling the first mango you bite into when summer starts satisfying. Yes it’s good, but it’s so much more than just clean, elegant lines or cute fluffy hairstyles! The expressions, the actions and gestures, the uniqueness of each character’s looks and how they correspond with their character traits and the laugh-out-loud reactions that Takanashi constantly bombards our hapless Kai with cement this title’s place in the archives under top ten shoujo titles you can read for the art alone.

Characters and dialogues are beyond reproach! Small thoughts and actions each character emotes make you giggle or guffaw depending upon the context, while the other character’s response in the adjacent panel may totally throw you! You’re constantly on the edge of your seat wondering what Kai will do next and how he’ll make his everyday existence as glorious as it once was. And while we all want our shoujo female leads to be strong and empowered ladies with healthy love lives and varied interests, we always make do with heroines who maybe don’t cry at the drop of a hat or those who retort once in a while with a snappy comeback. Well, settle no more folks! Here’s one heroine who fits the bill no matter how fastidious your standards for a shoujo heroine may be! She bats her eyelashes, she’s sweet and popular in class, she kicks butt when her friends are troubled and she takes initiative in her classroom just coz...! Heck she may even have the ability to walk on water, I don’t know, let’s wait for further chapters! All I know is, I’m in love with this girl, and want to read on if only to see her character be fleshed out further, bishounen be damned!

Overall, I have just read one chapter and I am impressed. Like capital I, capital M (and so on) in bold and underlines with neon signs pointing to it from all directions! I won't be greedy and say I want an anime version of this already or 18 volumes worth of their entire high school life charted out day by day, but I'm definitely wishing and praying that this title goes on serialisation for at least a couple of volumes!

You cannot afford to give this title a miss! Why? Coz it is just SOOO good. It's everything I've ever been looking for in a shoujo romance! It's light and refreshing, not soaked in melodrama, art is cute but clean, female lead can throw a punch but that's not her defining characteristic and the male lead... well let's just admire this title for making him the protagonist for once!!!

Helpful

read more

I just finished the manga and it was super cute. I love the fact that it doesn't have any unnecessary drama and a love triangle. All the relationships have their own story and focus. One of the interesting things about this series is that it is focusing on the main boy dialogue more than the girl, which makes the series refreshing. Most shoujo focuses on the main girl's struggle but this one puts us in the main boy shoes and his struggles and it was super adorable.

My favourite one is definitely taka and the camera girl. Definitely one of the best relationships. Also, the art is really beautiful.

Overall, a very good series for a feel-good moment especially during the 2020 pandemic.

Helpful

read more