Genre: Shojo (sort of school-ish)
Length: One Volume - 6 Chapters
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| Art and story (c) Teko Tanaka |
Art is a little amateurish,
especially at first, sometimes profiles look a little squished and
proportions are a little off, normal things like that. There was
something else slightly off putting about the art beginning, too,
though, I can't put my finger on it, but it only distracted the eye
from time to time. Faces were good over all, and expressive, a little
simple at times but not overwhelmingly so. Its that modern 'cutesy'
type of manga art, with big eyes and hair, though the gag faces are
really something to see. Clothes were on the baggy side, but in a
stylized way, though pretty much unremarkable. Backgrounds were more
blank than I like to see though tones were used quite a bit, too.
Once past the first chapter, the art comes quickly into routine and
the story, too improves.Natsuki Sugawara is a high school girl who only cares for one thing, and its not makeup, clothes, or boys. What Natsuki cares about above all other things is manga (a girl after my own heart). One day after school she goes out to buy some newly released books, but can't wait until she gets home to read them so finds a near by park and quickly gets down to business. Unfortunately, an older man catches sight of her and instead of leaving her alone, asks for her picture instead. Turns out, in the end, he's a mangaka who just wanted a reference picture, but Natsuki doesn't find this out until after she breaks his foot. Now she has to help the pervert until he gets well, can this fanatic deal with a person who creates the thing she likes most?
Besides the spotty-at- first art,
and even that isn't too bad, I really have two other complaints about
this manga. One, it doesn't seem rushed, but I think Natsuki falls in
love much too quickly than is comfortable, there should have been a
little denial to make it seem more realistic. It just makes it that
much more uncomfortable when it didn't have to be. The second problem
is more the cause of lack of explanation than anything else, having
read the whole thing I'm still not sure what the ages of the
characters are. I inferred Natsuki is somewhere around 17, since she
is in her second year of high school, but the love interest is never
given an age, as far as I can find and he's just called and 'old
man.' I mean, you have to assume he's around 20 or so considering his
face and much more than that would be getting creepy, but its not
confirmed. Again, it makes it more awkward that way and it could have
been easily fixed. So its not just the art that is a little amateur,
but despite the 'older man and high school girl' trope, I think its a
refreshingly different sort of shojo within the genre. It is hard to
find a one volume shojo that goes beyond typical plots, and Houkago x
Ponytail gives enough vartiety to make it interesting. Natsuki is
spunky and most of the manga is silly gags, its a good read despite
the flaws. Plus, as a girl who loves manga above all other things, I
really see where Natsuki is coming from.
3.5/5 I'd love to give it full marks for humor but the art and writing was a little messy.
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