Sora Sora by Youko Maki

Really busy this week, even busier next week! Considering how my jury duty goes, I may not find the time to read any manga that's too involved in the weeks to come. Some prior planning could probably help, but where's the fun in that? Well, I'm only doing this for personal enjoyment anyhow so I know I'll get around to it, because manga is a drug I can't kick.

Sora Sora by Youko Maki

Art and story (c) Youko Maki

Genre: Shojo
Length: One Volume – 5 Chapters


            This shojo has art that is pretty typical of it's time (early 2000's) but it is very well done, and I think there is enough style thrown in to appease. The eyes are the huge kind, just a glance and you know exactly what kind of art style I mean, I'm sure, but they have a lot of detail and life. The hair is also typical styles of the era, but they have good

movement definition. Likewise, the clothing has good detail, just the messiness of the main couple's uniforms shows their character right away, even if the uniforms themselves are generic. If you don't mind the style anyway, its a good example of it, and there isn't anything to really put you off.
          Sorako and Sorao are the Sora-Sora pair that are always causing trouble in class together, and by all appearances are best friends. Sorako actually likes Sorao but just being with him seems like enough for her, until a meddling girl takes an interest in Sorao and will stop at nothing to discredit Sorako and make Sorao hers. Can Sorako deal with such a girl taking her best friend?
           I'll admit it first thing, this is a rather stereotypical set up for a romance manga, girl likes boy but values their friendship too much to say anything until someone tries to take him away, but there is an interesting twist to this in that [SPOILER ALERT] in the end there is no tearful confession where the heroine spills her feelings. [STILL SPOILING] The main man isn't a total idiot, either, who never recognized her feelings the whole time and their getting together moment comes with the feeling that they don't have to change anything to be a couple. [SPOILERS OVER] So, despite sounding super generic, there is a lot going for this one volume manga, and its worth the time to read it. The couple are lots of fun to watch and the resolution is satisfying. Sorako is very spunky and her quick temper against the cutesy rival is gratifying. The male lead is a bit plain, as he's just the tag along, but he has some character traits not often seen in this type of story. Though, he does come off a little mean at times. It rides the line of cliché vs. fluffy romance and it comes up on the fun side. All these years of reading manga, you'd think a person would get tired of these quickie shojo stories about throw away characters, but, nope, I still enjoyed this quite a lot.




5/5 A good example of a one volume shojo. 

It's not nice to side punch a lady.

Good Luck and Dear Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I chose a "Luck" and a "Green" to review today. If you're not wearing green... *pinches*



Good Luck by KANG E-Jin

Genre: Shojo
Length: 5 Volumes – 25 Chapters



           The art is pretty at a glance but it has a lot of anatomy problems through out, heads too big, prospective skews, odd poses, etc. Overall, its not bad, though, its pretty average. It does get messier as the volumes progress, as well. The backgrounds are

really lacking and the tones used sometimes are too repetitive or just rather odd looking. The pacing isn't great, either, so action scenes just look like still frames that are not connected. The amateur mistakes show through all too quickly as you read on.
           Rumored to be a person who only brings misfortune is tough, but its even worse when the person also believes it to be true. Can a girl who has had nothing but a terrible life find happiness when anyone she decides to get close to is destined to have a disaster?
           This manhwa is okay in just about every aspect, though some would call that generous. I could tell right from the beginning, when I opened it up, what kind of manhwa it was, too. I've tried others that look just the same, and they all are just as average or worse. I know that sounds harsh, but this story was actually more continuous than most I've read. It was disjointed, don't get me wrong, which is another problem I've had with manhwa in the past, too, but it had a start and finish that match up with out too much wandering. No random time skips, either, a big plus. Settings

and feelings seem to change instantly from chapter to chapter, at one point I suspected that the chapters were out of order because I thought one side of the love triangle had been resolved but it was suddenly a plot point again for some reason? Its just that the characters, and the story itself, sort of muddle around until everything is randomly fixed in the end, with out any sort of rational motive to connect it all. The main character is interesting, she's strong and willing to smile even though she is despairing, but she also changes indiscriminately from chapter to chapter. The many love possibilities sort of come and go around her, one she just randomly meets and then randomly disappears again near the end. He was rather pointless, except for giving advice to the main character to advance her relationship with the main love interest, which she takes back the next chapter. The poor side guy is even given several pages where it is heavily-handedly shown that he and the main guy are good friends and are in love with the same girl, but he is disposed of so quickly. Unnecessary plot twists, all of it, and hard to follow at the same time. The translation was choppy, too, which made reading it even harder (unfortunately another reason I avoid manhwa), though I don't usually factor that into my reviews. Why did I even bother, you may ask? I guess I was feeling generous? I don't know, but it definitely was not worth the time, even if it was amusing here and there. The color pages and faces were pretty, but it was a lie, a vicious trap.



1/5 Don't bother.

See, a very pretty trap.

Dear Green by Amyuu Sakura



Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 50 Pages



          The art is nice, professional, and has good movement. The eyes are large and expressive, and the hair is pretty and full of personality, too. Very enjoyable all the way

through.
          Shun's older sister is good at everything she does, and Shun has always been a rebellious child, so she's always getting scolded. It doesn't bother her, though, Shun continues her ways happily. Yet, when she meets a very forward boy who seems to like her for being her, she just isn't sure how to behave anymore.
          Very cute. Much fluff. Make smile. Enjoyable all the way through, even if it is a little cliché. Totally washed away the bitterness of the previous review and refreshed me. I'd like to see more of the main character, actually, she's a little naughty and her personality is fun. This taste was a good, well done story though. Much like the last one-shot I read by this author so I think I'll take a close look at their body of work...



5/5 Very cute and well done one-shot about unexpected love. 

Ahiru by Himawari Ezuki

I'll sum up this review in one GIF if you don't have the time to read it:

Ahiru by Himawari Ezuki

Art and story (c) Himawari Ezuki

Genre: Shojo
Length: One Volume – 6 Chapters


           The art on this is rather messy and generic; its just bland all around. Large eyed shojo is probably the most prolific type of art in manga, at least its the most visually recognizable to Westerners, but it's style doesn't always mean that a manga is played out,

too. Unfortunately, in this case, it does mean that in the worst way. It is cute, I can't deny that at all, and the characters are all different visually. Even the expressions change a lot and show a character's personality. Still, does not change the fact that it very much feels like you've read this all before, nor does it make up for the hectic placement of the panels on each page. It was so crowded, its kind of hard for the brain to make any sense of flow, which is further skewed by the pace of the story. The “bubble” eye reflections are also huge distractions.
           A group of friends very reluctantly join a ballet club at school, but end up picking a fight with students who go to a ballet school who look down on the club. Can these “ugly ducklings” learn well enough to go head to head?
           Okay, did you read the description? Good, good, now forget it because that's not really how the story goes but I couldn't really scrape together enough plot to write much else. Technically, I suppose, that really is the plot but it doesn't really go anywhere, in fact the “battle” never happens. Instead, the story is disjointed and changes on a dime for no reason, until it has a cliché ending with a future flash forward included. It hardly makes any sense. Its forced and contrived from the get go, I mean joining a club and then trying your hardest so you can compete against some other kids way better than you is probably the oldest story in the book. Well, besides the hate-the-boy-until-it-turns-to-love narrative, but that is also included so you can be sure there is no originality here at all. Even the characters are all plain in personality, the group of friends, especially, they, despite all looking different, sort of just run together. And the two main characters? Seen 'em a thousand times. Then there is the composition, something I don't really comment on much, but in this case it's just adds to the hectic for no reason atmosphere. Like I said in the art section, this manga is too crowded. The ballet information is thrown at you randomly and there is absolutely no passion to the story at all. The romance has no heat to it, it is also forced, and at the end they are just randomly in love? The whole thing is just a waste of time. I didn't really hate it, like I said it is cute, and the humor is slightly amusing. For example, the main character's friends acting all dismissive, but beating her to the action/location and lording it over her is one of the re-occurring jokes that I liked.

Still sparkling, too.

Still, also as I said, the cuteness does not make up for all the other glaringly annoying or just plain generic-ness of the rest of it. What I find most irksome, though, is how much it reminds me of the anime Princess Tutu, and the fact that came out after the anime did, seems like much too much of a coincidence. Capitalizing on something someone else brought attention to? Common practice. Doing it in a completely unoriginal and uninspired way? Leaves a person going ugh. So I'm going ugh. UGH.



1.5/5 Cute, but driven only by tropes and cliches. 

Somehow, these characters look completely different in color.

Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi

I severely over-estimated my ability to sit and read manga again on this one, which is why its so late… On an unrelated note, I found this dating sim that's so full of annoying tropes and cliches…

I recommend everyone to try it. Its called My Horse Prince.



Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi


Genre: Shojo
Length: 16 Volumes- 75 Chapters and several extras


           The art is strong in style for both the normal and the silly situations, my favorite is the chibi style with the almost duck beak-like single line mouths,

but there are a lot of other details I like, too. I'll list a few: the lopsided eye shapes with the main male character smiles or is angry is also very high on the list, and the energetic poses, in fact just about any of the 'gag' type of art is good. The hair is excellently detailed, along with the clothes and the background art. I wouldn't say the eyes are detailed, but they do have a lot of character and emotion. From hair, eyes, and every other character design aspect, there is very good variation, every character looks much different from the others. Its all very well done, though there are a few issues. For

example, the hands are often too big (a pretty common thing), but sometimes the bodies also looked much too small for the heads, though that happened less and less as the manga progressed. There's a little awkwardness to the movements, too, at first but it also seems to fade. Its very enjoyable to look at and hardly distracts the eye.
           Teru has no relatives left in this world, but she does have one person she can always talk to even if she has no idea what he looks like, a man known as Daisy. Teru's brother left her a cell phone with Daisy's number on it, and she's been talking to him ever since through emails on a daily basis. She doesn't want to trouble him, though, and even though she's having a hard time at school, she never complains. But then, after accidentally breaking a window at school, a guy who's the complete opposite of Daisy has appeared in the form of a blond janitor named Kurosaki. He is forcing Teru to work off her debt since she can't pay for the window, and mercilessly teases and abuses her. All the same, the two men seem rather similar…
           Another one of those manga where I began it before it was completed, and now that it is done, I've returned to it. I have another one to review, too, but I will have to wait a

little while to do so since this sixteen volumer tried to kill me… Putting my health issues aside, Dengeki Daisy is a manga that pulls you along right from the beginning, and the story is actually pretty detailed. It hits a point or two where the humor drops away for serious drama to appear, but not very often. For the most part, its a singular story, even if the earlier volumes aren't nearly as connected as you might think, it all comes together by the end. I reviewed Beast Master a really long time about, so I'm not sure exactly how much I gushed about liking this mangaka then but I'll do a little now. Of all the manga I've read by this author, they all have good humor, strong characters, side characters with lots of charm, and interesting plot lines you don't find in many other shojo manga. This particular one has to do with computer hacking a lot, actually, so every once in a while there has to be some explanations and the like. As a whole, it is rather wordy at times, so it takes more of the full hour to read than some other manga. Usually, the really wordy stuff was when it was explaining the

past, though. Teru isn't the typical shojo heroine, either, she's strong willed and doesn't let her self be pushed around, and not relying on the one person she trusts most. I don't think it's a spoiler, since it's revealed in the first chapter, but the janitor IS Daisy, so the continuation of the story seems hinged on the fact that Teru doesn't know this fact and once it's figured out, the manga will be over. That isn't really true, though, and thanks to the plot set up from the earlier books, the story is allowed to continue all the way to the end with out too much resistance or unrelated outside forces. The two are one of my favorite types, though, the 'idiot couple' and the humor is just how I like it, and the character designs are really appealing to me, and the plot is solid enough all the way through to satisfy me and- Well, obviously it raises a lot of my “flags” so its hard for me to be harsh about it, because I'm so biased. If I have to really dig around for faults, lets see, other than being wordy at times, it also gets a little outlandish by the time it gets to the ending. Over the top, for sure, but its not really too bad for a shojo. Well, that’s really all I can think of. Its not just rose-colored remembrance, though, this is a really good manga that doesn't rely on tropes, in fact it makes fun of them blatantly, and has a strong cast of characters through out. I wish I had been able to read it straight through instead of breaking it up over a week and a half, seriously, its hard to put down.


5/5 Excellence in art, story, and funny bits.

Here's a funny bit:

Renai Cupid and Himitsu Kichi

There are two types of Valentine's Day people:

Me? I'm going to go play some Hatoful Kareshi and seduce some husbando pigeons.



Renai Cupid by Miki Kiritani

Art and story (c) Miki Kiritani (messy color by me)

Genre: Shojo
Length: One Volume – 3 Chapters


The art is pretty generic 2000-ish shojo art, with big, droopy eyes and thin limbs; the hair is even generic. The school uniforms, though, were actually interesting and different from a lot of other shojo. There wasn't anything “bad” in the art that I remember though, maybe

a little stiffness in the facial expressions, otherwise it was drawn well just not very original looking.
           Hiyo has made it into her choice high school, but not because she knows anything about the place or it's record of academics except that it was tough to get into. No, she transferred because the boy she's loved for four years and moved away goes to it and she's gathered her confidence to find and confess to him! Until she finds out the school forbids relationships between students and even discourages them from talking to one another in the shared areas of the school. Her search is over just as she thought she reached the climax, that is until an arrow strikes the pole over her shoulder. The arrow has a note tied around it claiming that it will help her, if she comes to the archery club. Waiting there for her? Two Cupids!
           This manga isn't bad, like the art, it is rather generic but the story isn't entirely like anything else I've read, just the premise is a rather familiar set up. Hiyo is cute and air-headed, and the two brothers she makes friends with are also fun. For a quick

Valentine's Day fluff it was good. It actually takes an unexpected turn at the last chapter, while you might think [SPOILERS AHOY!] Hiyo and the younger brother are destined to get together by the third chapter, the author decided to have the older brother get a girlfriend instead. In the end all you get for the main character is a very silly, one page omake at the end! [SPOILER OVER] Despite that lack of advancement, its a fun shojo read. If you don't like short, fluffy shojo you won't like it, of course, but if you don’t like short, fluffy shojo why would you go looking for something like this anyway? I can never help myself and glance at other reviews when I'm looking up manga just to see what others have said about things. Sometimes I do not agree and sometimes I do, but it always gets me when people who clearly don't like mindless shojo read a mindless shojo and complain about it. Its like, duh? Then again, I've probably got some reviews like that myself. I do try to read all types, though, there is an abundance of shojo to distract from other genres, that’s for sure! As for the unrelated one-shot at the end of this manga, meh. It was rather garbled and too much text when it wasn't needed, amateur but a mangaka usually puts older one-shots at the end of three chapter manga anyway so its nothing surprising but it is something you can skip.



3/5 Cute and fun, worth a read not really a re-read.




Speaking of abundance of shojo…..




Himitsu Kichi by Aya Nakahara

Genre: Shojo
Length: 4 Unrelated One-shots


           I just wanted to re-read some Aya Nakahara for this Valentine's Day because Lovely Complex has some of the best Valentine related comedy ever but since I re-read Lovely Complex two years ago for a review and I couldn't do another post on it, I chose this one instead, even though it's a collection of one-shots, just so I could just have it as an add-on. As far as the art goes, you could probably just read any other review I've done on this mangaka since the art has the same quirky style. The eyes aren't overly large, and the clothing is modern and has an interesting look on street clothes. Of course, the weird characters are the highlight of this particular author's works, the over reactions and gag-y joke facial expressions are a large part of that. The characters still retain their own personalities, too, even if some of the faces tend to look similar. The backgrounds are pretty good, too. I love the style personally so I'm not going to bother being too nit picky.
           Each one-shot is about someone with a secret:

           1. Finding a mature, college boy who will go out with her, Kana is over the moon. Only he isn't the age she thought he was…?!

           2. Hiroko is a tomboy to the max, strangers often think she's a boy, still, she has a crush on the idol of her class even though she knows he'd never look at her. When her secret is found out by a boy from another class, she has to agree to teach him her specialty, judo, to keep his mouth shut.

           3. Seiji is the singer of a band that does local shows on the weekends, and, despite the crowd that gathers, he doesn't care because he is already in love with a girl. The problem is he has to keep it a secret because it's his best friend's girlfriend. When he finds out her secret, though, can he keep his feelings inside?

          4. Emi is the son of an unfunny comedian, and even though his name means 'laugh' he can't find anything to even smile about. Having recently moved to Tokyo, Emi plans to keep his father's identity a secret and find his own happiness.

Dance!! Mushroom!!

           I always say its too hard to review collections of one-shots and I try to avoid them as much as possible, but I figured this was as good a time as any since I only had a one volume manga reviewed before. So, all of these one-shots are interesting and fun on their own, well paced and work alone to complete a single story. The first and last one are the best ones, in my opinion, Kana is a little weak in character but her progression is fun to watch since she really does like her boyfriend, and Emi is great and his story is heartwarming and funny all at once. The other two are good, too, though. The second chapter is my least favorite, but that is the male lead's fault more than it is Hiroko's because she's cute and, though she pretends to be cool, a bit of a spaz. The third chapter is good, too, it's number three in order of reading and in my order of goodness, and it has an excellent ending. Of course, these all being one-shots means you don't really get a lot of closure, but you can imagine them all having good lives after its over and you get a good look at their personalities in the short time you have with the characters. Give it a read, especially if you like any of Aya Nakahara's other works, the humor and the character are all there.



5/5 If you don't mind one-shot collections, give this funny one a read.

Cyboy by Mai Nishikata

I've been playing Castle Crashers lately, I only ever played years ago it at a siblings house before so I'm trying to finish it this time. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و



Cyboy by Mai Nishikata

Art and story (c) Mai Nishikata

Genre: Shojo
Length: 2 Volumes – 11 Chapters plus one special



           Art is good, though it was a little sketchy and amateur at times, with the side shots looking a little too skinny and backgrounds looking a little unfinished. Other than that it was on the good side of average, with character designs kind of cliche but the clothing

was interesting and fit well on the frames. The expressions were good, and the main character going from cool guy to dork and back is especially fun to see.
           Kiyosumi is one of the two most popular boys at his high school, always looking cool and aloof, he tends to be quiet. He has a secret, though, his 'cool' image is all fake. Having been called 'creepy' through out elementary schools in both Japan and America, he decided to change completely and try to be popular by asking the most popular kid he knew to teach him. Keeping up his facade has been hard during his first year of being a 'cyboy' or 'cyborg boy' which is the term he made up for his new way of reinventing himself, but he's finally got the courage to talk to the one girl in his class who he likes. Except when he does, she seems creeped out and runs away like people used to when he was unappealing!
           For a short shojo, this manga was fun and light with enough emotion and character growth to not be disappointing, except when you get to the end and you actually want a lot more. Some people might hate the non-ending ending, and feel like it was rushed but I didn't mind it. Kiyo-kun is super cute,

and his obsession with appearance is acceptably explained and his true personality is so squee-inducing that it really doesn't matter what he does, its fun. His best friend and mentor is rather plain, I wish his back story had been given more than just a bonus at the end explanation but still you can tell he's a real friend and you root for him to just be happy. The love interest also has a good personality, though she does seem rather plain for a little too long or doesn't even show up. There's not too much trumped up drama, at least I though so, yes there is shojo drama but it's not pushed to the extreme and things actually get worked out instead of being dragged on and on. The mangaka said from the beginning that they meant the story to only be two volumes so the planning and forethought really pulls the story through to the end instead of having it muddle about in shojo limbo where relationships don't progress just so the publication can last longer. Honestly there's not much I can complain about, I was looking for a light shojo and I found one with heart and laughs. I suppose the one thing that I can hark on is the fact that the title doesn't make any sense? The explanation, which is the one I give in the description really doesn't mean anything. It might be a translation type of thing though, so I'm not sure exactly how to put it so it actually signifies something. I guess its the fact that he changed everything about himself, or 'rebuilt' himself, that makes him a cyborg…? None of that matters one bit, though, I really recommend it.


5/5 Its sweet, its cute, its fun. What else do you need? 

That's great. His super cute crying face, I mean.

Candy by Qing Hui Lin and I am Alive by HOM

Happy Chinese New Year! Its the start of the year of the rooster, and the year of the monkey is over. I don't really know what that means though, except that its an excuse to make and eat Chinese food and find a manhua to read, too. I'm already feeling a bit like the gif below; I'm pretty sure that is a bad omen...

Candy (or Donuts in the Candy Jar) by Qing Hui Lin

Art and story (c) Qing Hui Lin

Genre: Shojo
Length: 2 Volumes – 10 Chapters



           The art is okay, the profile shots are a little wonky, but everything else is passable. There's not really anything special, though. A little angular, I guess, I mean I can't really think of anything else to say about it.
           When a high school girl wakes up to a note from her parents saying that they will be on a
trip around the world for the next year and that she is to survive off of money they left her, she's sent over the edge and forced to change every aspect of her life. Plus it seems like nearly every one at her new school is watching her constantly, even a boy who picks fights every time he sees her!
          I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the why behind my aversion to manhua and manhwa, but I'll say it again, I've been burned before and more often than not I'm disappointed in them on a ratio much higher than manga. I try to be open minded and give them a chance once in a while, like I did for this review but considering the several hours it takes to read, write, and create a post its better to actually find something to like instead of just some mediocre love story full of big eyes and tropes. It does not put me in a good or generous mood when I get to typing, that's for sure. So, I've probably already given it away, but this story was nothing special at all. The love aspect is rather unbelievable, and the main character is a little too combative to be likable. Truthfully, I found her annoying and deserving of everything she gets. The love interest isn't much better, he treats her bad then he treats her good, and then he's back to mean again and it's hard to blame him considering she screams at him as soon as she sees him. Every chapter is the same, too, somebody picks a fight with her, she fights with them, the love interest shows up to save her, she fights with him, then they are alone and he hugs/kisses her and she fights with him. Two volumes of it was more than necessary to set up a hate to love scenario but it just sort of ends with her giving in just because they knew each other a kids even though she doesn't remember it. Plus her jerk parents aren't given any sort of redeeming, either. Considering she gets upset about them abandoning her its all rather unsatisfying on that front, and all the others. I'm not even going to bother writing anything more but the score.


1/5




I am Alive by HOM

Art and story (c) HOM

Genre: Slice of Life
Length: One Chapter – 7 Pages

         The art is simple and realistic with good detail. The coloring is really nice, too.
         Tale of conceit written from the perspective of a pencil. A mechanical pencil.
         A nice, short tale about knowing when to give credit where it belongs and not getting too focused on yourself, and, also, how to be a humble pencil, I guess? Rather more a cautionary tale than just something for pure entertainment. Interesting nonetheless.

4/5? Its hard to score such a short story but its worth the half a minute it takes anyway.

Hybrid Berry by Ayumi Komura

Its been really rainy here in California. It's like 2017 is trying to wash away 2016 with force.



Hybrid Berry by Ayumi Komura

Art and story (c) Ayumi Komura

Genre: Sports, Shojo
Length: 2 Volumes – 12 Chapters and one unrelated one-shot


            The art is a little amateur, but it is consistent, just a few of the movements are awkward. Its one of those manga where the eyes are ginormous, and it takes a few chapters to get used to it but that's not the only stylistic thing that takes time, though. The noses are also large and the faces have a sharp decrease at the chin with low set mouths. So they look rather alien, reminding me of a certain Franken Fran chapter.

Franken Fran (c) Katsuhisa Kigitsu

 The collars made me double-take though, cuz they make no sense whatsoever, they look normal proportioned from the back but from the front…

Serious, yes, serious-ly huge collar

If you can deal with such exaggerated shojo art style, which some people can't and I don't blame them, there's really not that much to complain about. The chibi figures are really cute, too.
           Kaname takes care of the flowerbeds at school, and it is quite a feat since she has to keep

catching and diverting the stray balls from the too-close baseball field during after school practice. She is also always arguing with the second baseman who can't predict the ball's movement but the truth is she actually likes him. To get closer, she decides to take up the offer from the teacher who's the founder of the club and join up. Only, he doesn't want her to be manager but to take the playing position from her crush! How can she get closer to him when they are rivals?
           This manga is silly and it comes to an abrupt end; the last chapter is crammed in and moves along far too quickly. I guess it wasn't going to get anymore chapters so the mangaka had to wrap everything up quickly. Making the end rather muddled as to what is exactly happening. Still, its fun to read especially as far as sports shojo go, and is cute. Kaname is great as the “ace” who doesn't know exactly how things work, much like the main character from Eyeshield 21, and has a rather normal personality. She doesn't cry

all the time and she gets mad and shouts instead of turning everything into drama tropes. The love interest isn't as fleshed out, though, and their love story's conclusion is part of the quick wrap-up unfortunately. The best character is actually the teacher in charge of the baseball club, he's obviously playing on her emotions in the beginning but he comes across very likeable, it doesn't hurt that he reminds me of my favorite cop from Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro either. As far as being a sports manga, there isn't a lot of technical explanations and lingo mixed in, I suppose most people in Japan are aware of baseball as they like it just as much as Americans do so it doesn't have to slow down to explain the game to you every three seconds (unlike Eyeshield 21). There's not really much to review, its just light and funny with baseball mixed in. Much better than the last baseball manga I read, for sure. Also, the name sounds like a Pokemon item.




3.5/5 Very likable but lacks the depth needed for a higher score.

Kaname, please don't put holes in the panel edges.

Seishun Otome Banchou! by Shizuru Seino

The last of the Shizuru Seino trio today, I would have gotten it all done last week but my internet was down and I had some shopping to do. I got a lot of updating done on My Manga Malady today, though, including switching to the winter theme (although, technically, it is not officially Winter until the 21st) and fixing some of the old posts from before I knew how to better utilize Blogger. Of course, I don't utilize it properly now, either, but I'm slowly improving, I think. I found a nice page that shows the HTML codes for colors, actually, and I can have a wider variety of highlighting for the post titles. Which makes me happier than it should, considering I could have done that right from the beginning had I thought to Google it then instead of now. Oh well.



Seishun Otome Banchou! by Shizuru Seino

Art and story (c) Shizuru Seino

Genre: Shojo, Comedy
Length: 3 Volumes - 13 Chapters


            The look and feel of this manga is very polished, compared to Girl Got Game, its come a long way. Considering this manga came out in 2013 a long way is used literally, but it also has updated after all the years between, too. The eyes may not have a lot of variety but they

definitely show expressions well. The hair, too, has a lot of personality and the way it comes down over the forehead is very cute. By which I mean it has updated from the very angled hair from way back in Girl Got Game. The clothes aren't really that interesting to tell the truth, something that hasn't changed, but they fit the bodies well and have nice, crisp lines. The backgrounds are there, even if they are mostly tones, and I don't really remember there being a lot of blank but its around. I'd say the backgrounds are normal. The blush lines are the type to be all across the face, but they are not distractingly there for no reason and after three other manga with the same type of blush I've grown accustomed to it. I honestly can't think of a bad thing to nit pick on here, so its pretty darn good.
           Mihane Hirata has the nickname “Satsujinki” which means “murderer” simply because she has a scary face. Its basically become a complex now that she is in high school and has all but given up finding love. She does, however, have a crush who she wishes she had the guts to confess to. When she's caught staring and Touma, her crush, confronts her because he thinks she is glaring, Mihane blurts out her confession! Feeling embarrassed as he starts to turn her down, she insists they get to know each other with a trial date before he responds and to her surprise, he agrees?
           Girl Got Game always made me laugh out loud, not many manga really get me to do that, but the trend continues with this manga. Its a masterful mix of love story and comedy. It

That small laugh is perfect.

doesn't have the same heavy sections that Girl Got Game had, the story is evenly matched with silly gags and drama. I'd go so far to say that it's the best manga I've read in a while. Of course, it being a shojo, you immediately know how the story is going to go but Mihane is so odd that you get lots of turns around a strange corner. Mihane, though, can also get a little annoying because her personality doesn't change enough fast enough but considering her face isn't something that she can really change and having heard all her life how ugly she is the eventual turn around is quite uplifting. Touma is also a great personality, especially when matched with Mihane, he has his own quirks and problems. Seeing the two grow is a pleasure, they match each other so well. Plus, he treats her kindly right from the beginning and it really gets the story off to a good start and keeps the couple from growing stale. Seishun Otome Banchou! is an off shoot of another Shizuru Seino manga called Junai Tokkou Taichou! (called Love Attack in the English release) with Mihane being the two title character's daughter. In fact, I'd have liked to see Mihane's parents, as half of Mihane's problems have to be because the two of them raised her in the first place. The sad part is, I've only read the very beginning of Junai Tokkou Taichou! because the scans quit being translated (due to the English release and lack of interest, I believe) and the English adaption was canceled after six of the full thirteen volumes. Junai Tokkou Taichou! is the manga with the direct connection to Girl Got Game, as well, since Kyo meets Mihane's father as a coworker and helps her decide to go back at the end of volume nine. Off topic ramblings aside, Seishun Otome Banchou! is a fine manga by itself, with it's own in-jokes and WTF moments. In certain moods and chapters, its better than Girl Got Game. And just in case I didn't use them enough to be confusing in the rest of the article: Seishun Otome Banchou! Junai Tokkou Taichou! Junai Tokkou Taichou! Seishun Otome Banchou! Girl Got Game.



5/5 Good story and good laughs.

Fixing your face would be a good start...

Heaven!! by Shizuru Seino

Part two of the Shizuru Seino threesome. I'm still pretty light in the Christmas manga department, so I'm going to just do one next week and then one on Christmas itself. Unfortunately they are both one-shots so the reviews won't be very long but I blew through the Christmas manga long ago. I hope by next year I'll find a few more like I did this year...

*sigh*

Heaven!! by Shizuru Seino

Art and story (c) Shizuru Seino

Genre: Shojo, Supernatural
Length: 3 Volumes – 12 Chapters



           Like Girl Got Game, there is a little bit of messiness and looseness to the art at the beginning of this manga, but it settles quickly and gets into a good groove for what it will look like for the rest of the serial. The gags and the resulting expressions are, from what I remember, different than what is in Girl Got Game, too, there are things that are similar sure, but there are elements to the art and story that are separate from it as well. One that remains the same is the point and arm shake that people do, as illustrated by the below picture:

But otherwise there isn't a lot of things that remind you of the other story as far as the art goes. I don't remember any times that the characters looked the same as any of the others from the previous manga, either. Even the background characters that all looked the same in Girl Got Game have changed. The side characters are pretty thin in this story though and are quickly forgotten and turn to background characters at best. The backgrounds are a little lacking, and the clothes aren't spectacular in look or on the fit of the body frames. Still, the art is very clean and fun. Heaven!! was written pretty much right after Girl Got Game and they do share similar standards, but there is definitely some improvement and lots of differences in the art.
           Rinne is a strange girl who can see and exorcise ghosts with a giant paper fan, a

technique she cultivated with her own experience. Masaharu is one of her classmates, a delinquent who dyes his hair and scares everyone in class. The two have nothing in common except that they are the two who get in the most trouble, but one day, while chasing a spirit, Rinne accidentally involves Masaharu when he saves her from getting hit by a truck. Neither are hurt, but somehow Masaharu is separated from his body in the process. Unsure how to put a spirit back, Rinne promises to help except a spirit decides to take the uninhabited body for himself and stick Masaharu into a stuffed animal. From there, things really start to get mixed up...
           Of the three manga that I read this week from this author, this one is the most ridiculous, which is a pretty hard thing to achieve considering the madcap antics that go on in every single set of stories. Its also a little more rough in the progression of some elements. Rinne's shamanic powers are definitely thrown aside after the first volume and not brought back until the very end of the third one, making this manga more of a slice of life manga, albeit a bizarre one, than a supernatural manga. All the same it is enjoyable to

read and the short length makes it a good afternoon read, too. The trio of characters mesh well, and there's never a time where nothing is happening, even if it isn't anything but gags instead of actual story. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see a delinquent trapped in a pink monkey-shaped stuffed animal while his beautiful face is paraded around by a sex crazed god who came down from heaven? Obviously, not me, although it isn't as well pulled off as Girl Got Game's premise; its actually rather strange, the way things progress I mean. Some spoilers ahead, but the love story does not go like you may think it does at the beginning. Rinne does come off as annoying to some people, though, who can't stand her personality. Negative feedback I saw were mostly complaining that Rinne is too shallow of a character to be likable. Which is true, she is very shallow at a glance, still, maybe its because of the vehemence I had for Duck Prince's much worse handling of selfishness or that her reasoning for not understanding is that her gift has led to her not even knowing what friendship is, but I don't think its really true that she's totally self absorbed as she admits to loving him very quickly after she first denies it. Even when it could get cruel or mean for the poor boy in the monkey body, it stays light. For me the biggest problem is more of the ambiguous coupling at the end, but I always complain when they don't state right out who is going out with who so I think that’s probably a personal irk more than anything. Typically, people like Girl Got Game better, and I'm no different, the characters are completed faster and the hijinks are funnier in the previous manga, but Heaven!! still has a lot to love, even if it isn't as flushed out as the other, its a completely original type of story and there's never a dull moment or a crazy coincidence that puts a smile on the lips.




4/5 Not as good as Girl Got Game (Power!!) but still freewheeling fun.

Uhhh, that's not normal, bro.

P.S. All the sites I've looked on say that this manga is a spin off of Girl Got Game, but I am unsure of the actual connection to each other. Perhaps I'm missing something? If anyone who reads this sees the reason it's called a spin off, please tell me. I think it might be background characters, as if its the same school as in Girl Got Game (though the uniforms are different so I don't think that is it) but I can't find a concrete answer anywhere and I'm unwilling to state it outright with out knowing concretely what the connection is. I can be pretty clueless sometimes when it comes to small details because I read things too fast, so I'm just not sure at all.