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.

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.

The Flustered Shabby Santa Claus by Kana Yamamoto

It is officially the eve of Christmas eve, I've got a short post for today and a slightly longer one for tomorrow. I'm not hopeful about finding winter reads next year though, but I hope this won't be the last year of Winter Wonderland posts. I found a new Santa gif though:

 

The Flustered Shabby Santa Claus by Kana Yamamoto


Genre: Josei
Length: One Chapter – 17 Pages


           The art has personality, but also seems a bit sketchy, especially the backgrounds that come and go, so it gets an okay score in the visual category. The faces have a lot of emotion, and the hair has good movement though the styling just looks rather trendy instead of stylized

to the mangaka. The clothes also fit well on the bodies and have enough detail to pass as regular clothing. Judging by such a short story is kind of hard but the look doesn't shift through out.
           When a man is caught sneaking out of an apartment in the middle of the night on Christmas eve by a girl on the adjacent balcony, he knows his luck has run out, but instead of calling foul she actually seems to think he's Santa Claus instead of a thief! Can he appease her well enough to get away?
           Awwww. That sums up this story completely, a cooing of cuteness, and considering the length that is a good outcome. I mean it takes all of five minutes to actually read it, so the story is very short and to the point but in a good way. The characters of both people are given, as well as how their motivations bring them together in the story. In fact it may not end just the way you think it will, and there is one panel in particular that really gives your heart strings a strum, so it has good originality along with the right holiday feeling. Its warm and its cute, a perfect short read for the season.


4/5 Its not amazing but its a nice short story.

Rensou Mode and Danshi-ing Girl! by Haruki Okada

No, really, getting to read and write a review on the computer compared to my cell phone is like night and day. Setting aside the time is probably the same, but I look forward to it instead of forcing myself to do it. Of course no one looks at these things to read about my personal life, so, on with the manga reviews!



Rensou Mode by Haruki Okada

No cover page, sorry.

Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 45 Pages


          Very smooth and professional looking, and the gag art was amazingly hilarious. The

Just look at those perfectly round boobs and pointy hands

clothes are well fitting and the eyes are clear and easy to interpret. Its always hard to really “review” the art on a one-shot manga, especially when there isn't anything I can nitpick or laud as original. The regular art is this way, I've read (and reviewed) lots of shojo manga in the same type of style, but the gag art has terrible to a science. Every little thing is exactly the right kind of bad, the faces the sparkly eyes, the side views that are off, every detail is funny and makes this manga instantly a 5/5. That's kind of unprofessional, I guess so I'll finish this after all.
          Nicknamed “the Prude” and having the appearance of a typical class rep, one girl holds a secret of actually being super romantic and a lover of smutty shojo stories. She daydreams of having her first kiss with the prince of her choosing, going so far as to elaborately plan every step leading up to it. So when she has an accidental kiss with a delinquent boy from her class, she conscripts him into helping her fulfill her fantasies.
          This manga tries to kill you by page nine (the page just to right there of this text), and to make matters worse, keeps giving you full page spreads of the main character's hand drawn romance fantasy manga. The cliches are there, the rosy backgrounds, the locked in a closet together, and the seeing the girl topless. All of them drawn in, pardon my French, shitty amateur art. Of course, they are parodies and the real life scenarios go much differently. To hilarious results, mostly. I got to the end much too quickly, and I'd love to see how this couple actually continues, how her obsessive behaviors change now that she has what she wants. It'd be amazing, I know it.



5/5 Laughing too hard to think of a one liner. Just read it.




I liked that one-shot, so I went ahead and found a longer work by the same mangaka instead of a random one in my file, and it's review follows…



Danshi-ing Girl! by Haruki Okada

Genre: Shojo
Length: One Volume – 4 Chapters and one extra


          The art is basically the same as Rensou Mode, except that it's a little more unrealistically drawn. Meaning, the bodies are a little leaner, and, what struck me the most, the faces come to an extreme point at the chin. Rensou Mode also has the pointy faces, but its just more so on Danshi-ing Girl, of course, most shojo do it but once you make note of it, your brain can't help but see it. Anyway, the clothes are well done, with enough detail to be interesting, and the eyes have a lot of life in them. It is fairly typical for it's time

period (around late 2000's to now) so it doesn't really stand out in the art department but it doesn't fail in any way, either.
           Karin hates men with a passion, ever since she was bullied as a child, and can't stand to be near or even look at a male. After an accident, though, Karin wakes to a foreign bed and a boy standing over her calling her by the wrong name. She panics, only to find that instead of simply being in the wrong place, she's actually in the wrong body?!
          This is clearly a one-shot that unexpectedly got the chance to be a full volume, making the second chapter rather abruptly tacked on, but I don't hold that against it (I think Faster Than A Kiss was, too, and it had a long, successful run, after all). The initial idea of their souls switching is fun, but it does wear a little thin by the end of it, simply because it happens just for comedy and drama but not to further the relationship. Which is a long way of saying that it doesn't have enough romance and nothing is really resolved because the author went for the gag. Now, I'm not saying this manga is bad, far from it, its an entertaining read. It makes you laugh at the antics of the poor, reserved girl having to suddenly be surrounded by guys, and that part doesn't really get old. I just wanted a bit more than just a laugh. Also, the shinigami character is great, and his laid back approach to helping them really makes the body switching practically guilt free. I recommend this manga, along with Rensou Mode, for the humor alone. Come Christmas, I have another from this author, too, and I hope its a good read as well.


4/5 Funny and cute, with just a little too little resolution.

Uh... what about it?

Inaba Rabbits by Taro Chiaki

 Happy Easter! Man, its, like, really early this year. My choices for Easter stories didn't really pan out, sadly. I should have just re-read last years choice again and enjoyed myself. Instead I spent a bunch of time on these three reads. My colored eggs turned out okay, though, I guess.

Inaba Rabbits by Taro Chiaki 

Art and story (c) Taro Chiaki

Genre: Shonen, Harem
Length: 2 Volumes – 10 Chapters


           The art is appropriately… bouncy and fleshy for it's genre. The faces are a little too much all
the same, but the hair flows and is interesting in shape. The clothes fit the body shapes well, but really aren't worth looking at. The backgrounds are pretty much MIA, and instead there are unnecessary panty shots and whatnot that are expected from this type of manga. The art is good, but not particularly original.
           Kenichi made a promise to work at his grandfather's shrine, the Inaba shrine that is famous for binding relationships together, but had to leave the area when he was still a kid. Now, ten years have passed, but Kenichi has returned to fulfill his promise. The only problem is, of the four shrine maidens working at the shrine, how can he tell which one is the girl he made his proposal to?
           I avoid harem manga, but when looking for a manga with a 'rabbit' theme, this one was perfect, I regret deciding to go for it. I did not enjoy myself at all. The concept was slightly interesting at first glance, with a bit of a supernatural tinge. All the same it grew stale quickly and to make things worse it had a 'nothing has changed' ending that makes your time
basically wasted. Seriously, there is nearly a whole volume of these rabbit girls being “in heat” as they so bluntly put it and then it sort of just ends. I can't stand the trope-filled harem genre in the best of times and usually that is because the same thing happens that happened in this manga, that is, sexy hi-jinks but no real heart or plot line. There were tidbits that showed that perhaps something could have been interesting in the long term but that simply just doesn't pan out, those plot points should have been given right at the beginning instead of a three chapter long bath scene. Also, it starts with the 'childhood promise but I don't remember the girl' premise and that is literally the oldest trope in the book. I mean, really, hasn't the world had enough Love Hina clones yet?



1.5/5 An interesting world reduced to usual harem smut.




Honey Rabbit by Souta Kuwahara



Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 17 Pages

That face sure is cute, though...

           Cute and modern, there is a simplistic look to this manga that gives it a fluffy look. The rabbit
is very well done and realistic looking, to boot. The clothes and the backgrounds, though are unremarkable.
           When Fumiko finds herself watching the house alone on the weekend once more, she goes to bed grumbling. In the morning, though, a cute boy wakes her up? He claims to be her pet rabbit, Kotarou, and he does seem to share the rabbit's habits…
           This is really cute, but there isn't much to it even for a one-shot (what much can you do in 17 pages, really?). Its just a story about her pet not wanting her to be alone again, but it really seems to make no difference whether he is a rabbit or a boy because he does nothing different for her as a human as he did as a rabbit. Its just kind of meh.



2.5/5 Cute and with a rabbit.





Dr. Rabbit by Akane Ogura



Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 40 Pages


           The artwork is well done, still it was a little generic at times. The backgrounds were mostly
tones, but they added well to the action, which is pretty good on its own. The glasses sometimes looked a little bit like they were just floating instead of being worn.
           Saeki is a genius who created artificial intelligence and put it in a doll that looks like a rabbit after many years of painstaking research. Just as she is about to release her results, though, it seems someone is out to steal the robot. So Saeki hires a bodyguard with what little money she has, only to find out its someone who looks totally unreliable.
           The story is cute, but its not really compelling, things just keep happening and the two of them sort of chit-chat in between. It is also kind of meh.


2/5 I dunno, it was okay.

Is that something to say so proudly?

Folk Tail Tonakai by Tohko Mizuno

I'm happy with how my one-shot experiment turned out for this holiday season. I hope it doesn't seem cheap to just do a bunch of short reviews like this but its a crazy season and I'd hate to run out of time and not post anything at all. Thank you all for visiting my blog, and I hope to get one more review for the year of 2015 posted. Until then, I'd just like to say:

♪On the twelfth, and last day, of Christmas My Manga Malady gave to me...♪


Folk Tail Tonakai by Tohko Mizuno

Art and story (c) Tohko Mizuno

Genre: Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 49 Pages

           The art of this manga is spectacular, and it'd have to be considering the premise. The faces are easy to understand and connect with. The body proportions are also well done, and the clothes add to the character of each person as well as fit on the body. The main character's hair is always dramatically flowing around her face, and the others, well, lets just skip to the description so you can understand fully what I mean about the art.
           Kokoro's mother and father have recently passed away in a car crash, and amid the rumors that it may not have been entirely accidental, her great uncle has decided she needs to announce a fiancee to settle the family business now that she is the only heir. Only, Kokoro seems to suddenly only see people with animal's faces! What could be causing this, and how can she pick a fiancee when she doesn't even recognize anyone among the monsters?
           I already gushed about it in the art and had to skip ahead just so I could gush some more, see, everyone but the main character starts out with an animal's head instead of a humans and the way the animal heads and the bodies go together is amazing. They are all in perfect proportion, and further the characters in fun as well as foreshadowing ways. The clothes and mannerisms also lend to the character's choice of animal as well. I wasn't so sure about this one, it has such a bizarre premise and I wasn't sure it was Christmasy enough for the season, either, but it quelled all my fears despite a being a little wordy at times. It is manga like this, with such an interesting hook that its amazing the mangaka can then pull off a story based on it, let alone make you like it, that makes me love manga so much. I mean, my favorite manga is based around a man who is literally made of rubber, and it works so wonderfully, but when you sit down to think about it, its rather strange. The range and imagination of manga has such a huge scope, its a wonder. Anyway, this manga was a delight to read, even though it is bogged down in mystery, and it has a happy ending. Perfect reading for the season.


5/5 Art and story were both interesting and well put together.

Mari to Santa by Keiko Nigushi

This is the nitty-gritty here folks, tomorrow's the big day! I find it really cute how, in Japan, Santa helpers are called Santa-san and are cute young men. Makes for good manga reading, imo.


♪On the ELEVENTH! day of Christmas My Manga Malady gave to me...♪


Mari to Santa by Keiko Nigushi



Genre: Santa
Length: One Chapter – 16 Pages


           The art was adequate, and it was clear that it was ambitious as well. There wasn't anything really awkward in the art, but there felt like some type of detail was missing. I can't really put my finger on it. Now, the art wasn't bad, but it wasn't really interesting, either. It gets away with what it has.
           Newly appointed Santa-san can't quite help being nervous, he has a lot of weak points, including being bad with kids of all things. When his reindeer gets hurt and Santa is stranded before he even gets started on delivering presents, he'll have to rely on the kindness of one little girl.
           I think the premise of this story is super cute, and I think it was executed well in the small amount of pages it had. You get to know the characters well, and you get a nice, heartwarming Christmas moment, too. I enjoyed reading the exploits of the amateur Santa-san who is basically way out of his league and the little girl who befriends him purely by accident. Despite the rather ambiguous art, I'd read this again.



3/5 Heart warming but a little scattered.

Melonpan is not a good present, Santa.

Four Zombie One-shots to End ZAM2015

Finishing up this month of May with a few smaller stories about the zombie apocalypse. Let's keep the lessons learned these past few weeks close to heart, so that when the hoards come, we can stay alive and, more importantly, stay dead when we do go. 
 

Escape From High School Girls by Seiman Douman
Genre: Adult Horror
Length: One Chapter - 9 Pages

            Art is very angled and interesting, it could be called a simplistic but I'd like to go with 'stylized' myself. What was best was the variety of the eyes and hair, no two people were alike in any way. The body shapes were the opposite, every one had long necks and thin limbs. Very unique even when just giving it a glance.
            There is no escape from high school girls, even when they are zombies.
            A fun look at high school life, this manga may not be what you expect. If you like dark humor with zombies, like the movie Zombieland for example, you'll like this. Very novel.
 


5/5 For giving me what I wanted even though I didn't know I wanted it.



Girl's Day Out of the Living Dead

Genre: Adult Horror
Length: One Chapter - 7 Pages

            Same artist so I'll just add that the way the gore is made cute, even though a certain character has half her face missing lets say, is something to behold.
            High school girls never change, even when they are zombies.
            Even more bizarre than the previous installment, I guess the author liked these zombie gals so much he had to draw them some more, a bonus for us readers. The dark humor is just as spot on as the last chapter making it easy to chuckle at some poor schmuck's expense. Just beware looking this author up, his works are primarily hentai, or in other words, porn. I'm willing to brave it, though, to see if there are other interesting stories like these two.

5/5 More of what I didn't know I wanted but was glad to see a continuation of.


Unlucky Boy Undead Girl by Sou Tobita

Genre: Shonen Romance
Length One Chapter – 50 Pages

            The art of this one shot is quite original, but it does have some sketchy bits. The

teeth are often huge, as well. I found it very enjoyable to look at, the clothes were kind of plain, but the backgrounds were there and the faces are very expressive. The main character's face was my favorite part.
            What happens when a guy with the worst luck ever meets a zombie who is trying to escape her captors? Could it be love?
            This one shot was over far too fast, and this mangaka has nothing else but a game adaptation manga written. I'd really like to see more of this author because there is a really good mix of humor, romance, and originality just in these fifty pages that shows someone with a good idea of how to make lots of elements work together. I especially want more of this couple, they are amazing together. My favorite out of this group by a wide margin.

5/5 Entertaining and super cute.


Kuma-san To Issho by Yutaka Tachibana

Genre: Horro Shojo
Length: One Chapter – 47 Pages


            Cutesy meets zombies, but they don't mesh very well. The shojo art is well done,

and the backgrounds are there enough, but the zombie art is just sort of nonsensical and gross. Overall, there isn't much to complain about with the art, beyond my problem with the zombies.
            In the midst of a zombie invasion there is a lone house on a mountain where just a little girl and a man in a bear costume live, from an outsider's perspective it may seem like paradise, but can a place so perfect actually exist in such a hell?
            I do not understand what the point of this story was, or why the author deemed it worthy of drawing. The 'twist' makes no sense and the rest of it is boring. Plus, the way the zombies were drawn were disgusting in a way that I found repulsive, and not in a good way, they don't match the way the shojo art looks nor do they have detail enough to make my eyes not just slide away. It was a waste of my time all around.


1/5 Huh? What did I just read this for?




They may have been short reads, but they were packed with information. Including, don't think just because a zombie used to be a loved one you shouldn't kill it, don't let yourself get surrounded, and that there probably will never be a place safe enough to let your guard down in. Remember: know your zombie facts before it's too late! Here's to hoping that 2016 will be another zombie free year for us all.

This guy may not be able to listen, but you should.

 

Dusk Story - Tasogare Monogatari and Roe by TONO

Dusk Story - Tasogare Monogatari by TONO

Genre: Supernatural Josei

Length: 2 Volumes – 13 Chapters

Art and story (c) TONO

Art has a floating and ephemeral quality that I found so intriguing I looked up the author to find a manga to read. Its a bit of an older style of art, but I highly enjoy this particular type of esthetic. The color illustrations were very beautiful to look at, and the art is very unique. Faces are wide eyed and closed lipped, and the bodies are thin limbed. The hair is very expressive, floating along with the clothes to make very beautiful art. The backgrounds were extremely sparse, but not really distractingly so. Clothes weren't very detailed, either, actually the lack of detail is a bit of draw for the flowing art but it can easily pass into looking amateur. Faces could be a little hard to read, though, which happens to be the one thing I took offense to in this sketchy type of art.

Takt can see ghosts, illusions, and memories of people when they are strong enough and though he tries to stay out of the way of many of them its hard to ignore things that pull at him so tightly. Living a life filled with other people's tragedies, come into his world and have a taste...

When I found a random cover of manga by this mangaka, I had to look her up and read something by her, though I deliberately picked the oldest one I could find so that I could see the core of her art before looking at newer manga and I don't think the art disappointed me at all. I did wish though, that the chapters of this manga hadn't been so choppy, they were only nineteen pages each (typical length for weekly published manga) but each one is it's own contained story so there were a few bits that aren't really explained. Still, I found it highly enjoyable and I would definitely find another manga by this mangaka to read just on the art alone. The plots where interesting, too, and varied even though they all revolve around a person who can see ghosts which is an old, OLD plot hook, but Dusk Story still managed some interesting new takes on the trope. Takt is mysterious even to the reader until you get further into the story, slowly developing as your understanding of his world does. Though this also adds to the tragedies of the manga, and it can be down right depressing at times. The ending is abrupt though, just like the rest of the story. I also think that the 'josei' genre is purely just because of the magazine it was originally published in because there's no romance in it to label it so. The format of the chapters is really the only reason I did not fully savor this.

4/5 I could see reading this again and enjoying it just as much.

And, because I was curious about this author:

Roe by TONO

Genre: Josei Comedy

Length: One Chapter – 10 Pages

Art is much more polished from the previous (no surprise, it being something like fifteen years after Dusk Story) the facial expressions and body movements are clear and easy to understand, and the clothes are detailed much better and contour to the bodies they hang from. It has that same floaty and fantasy feel but in a much more polished setting. The backgrounds are still lacking, though.

A tale of two friends. One friend is always eating piles of food and able to afford everything she wants, while the other is broke and, despite always being on a diet, fat. So when the poor friend is invited to work like the other so she, too, can be skinny and rich, she goes to her friends house to see exactly what is up.

Silliness, TONO clearly likes to be very silly. Its a wonder these two women are friends but it makes for a tale of jealousy and comedy that you probably won't see coming. Definitely not a waste of my time, I'll remember it forever.

5/5 The art is even better than before!

Seirei Gakusha Kidan Reikyou Kaden and Boukun Tyrano-san

Well, I had to move my clock up today so I decided to read some time traveling manga to match. Let's begin with....

Seirei Gakusha Kidan Reikyou Kaden by Daisuke Higuchi

Genre: Fantasy Shojo
Length: 2 Volumes - 7 Chapters

Art and story (c) Daisuke Higuchi

          Its very typical of manga of its time (around the 2000s), the characters have long faces and the bodies are slim and long legged. It's very well drawn, the people are all distinguishable from one another and the clothes have good detail and patterning. The backgrounds are not there at all, to tell the truth, but it wasn't too much of a negative with this manga, as the rest of the art is really appealing. Action was a little stiff, but on the most part the body movement was easy to follow. This is drawn by the same mangaka that created Whistle! though I have only had cursory looks at that particular manga. I enjoyed the art the most on this story.
             Yuika Aoi has dreamed of his death for a long time, unable to help as he is defeated by his enemies and she is covered in blood. When an earthquake sends her into a strange dimension and she sees the man for real, she agrees to do whatever she can to help him this time. The man, Rei, who seems to be what is called a 'fairy doctor' is quickly saved but, when Yuika finally gets the chance to look around, she finds herself eighty years in the past! 
              This manga really suffers from lack of explanations. If you read through it and ignore the way it is clearly set up for a longer plot for about a volume and a half, its a fairly good shojo story, but once you think about all the stuff that was left out for it's hasty ending you get a lot of questions that will never be answered. It really sucks when such things happen, but I don't think that ruins Seirei Gakusha Kidan Reikyou Kaden completely, it just sort of makes the time travel element seem unnecessary. Yuika is pretty spunky, too, but you don't get much of her in action which is also a shame, instead you get her wishing she could help and then suddenly the ending happens. Her beau is also underdeveloped so their actual romance is lukewarm and a little too sudden. So, to sum up, its a good glimpse of a world that could have gone somewhere with a couple more volumes, but was cut down to only two volumes of rushing story.  Even the 'bad fairies' motivation is a little confusing, and they are supposed to be the bad guys, instead they are sort of faceless because several chapters were spent on a different plot line before everything shoehorned into the ending flashback. The few specials at the ends of volume one and two really help in cooling the confusion rage that follows

3/5 I can't hate it but I can hate it's wasted potential due to cancellation.



 And for some thing else that leaves more questions than it answers, like "Huh?" and "What?" and "Why was this made?" especially, is this one-shot:

Boukun Tyrano-san Story by Jouji Manabe and Art by Shii Miyone

Genre: Shonen

Length: One Chapter - 103 Pages

Art (c) Shii Miyone and story (c) Jouji Manabe

           Art wise this manga is a little hectic, but solid. The character designs are interesting to look at, at least the girls are, but the men are more generic. Clothes aren't anything special to look at, there are plenty of tones and detail, just its school uniforms for two thirds of it. The backgrounds are good and prolific for once. Listen, though, the art makes no difference to why you are going to try this thing out, okay, its pretty good but it doesn't matter. Trust me.

            Ralph, who's last memory is of an asteroid falling down from the sky, finds himself in a strange body and in a strange place. See, Ralph was king where he came from but is a curvacious high school girl now, made of soft flesh and who is missing his powerful tail. See, Ralph was a mighty T-Rex last he remembered. His was the world of lizards, but now he seems to be in the world of monkeys instead.

            I don't have the words to describe this manga in full, but I'd have to say I'm glad I read it. It may not be a stellar example of a manga since its kind of all over the place in pacing, but it is entertaining to say the least, and has lead me to a whole new type of manga I didn't know existed. Who knew that dinosaurs are a thing in manga? And are there more body swapping ones out there? I suddenly live in a world where I want to look that up?!?! All joking aside, it is fairly wordy for an action manga, and the scientific mumbo-jumbo is more than a little indecipherable, something about magnetic fields? Ralph understands your pain, though, so its obvious that even the author and mangaka knew it was a little hard to swallow. By all means though, give it a read, just don't expect a manga about a dinosaur time traveling into a high school girl's body to make much sense.

4/5 It gets this score on premise alone, I won't lie.

Yuika Aoi

Yuika Aoi

Akuma to Candy by Kana Matsu

Akuma to Candy by Kana Matsu

Art and story (c) Kana Matsu

Genre: Schoo Life Shojo
Length: One Volume - 3 Chapters

The art is modern but there isn't much detail to really look at in the clothes, backgrounds, or hair. The expressions were really good though. Kind of sparse, but it is not off putting, really not much to say here.

Naomi confesses to the boy she likes but he wants to know why when they've never spoken before. His blunt and, frankly, rude behavior causes Nami to call him a devil,

but is really as bad as all that? It's not as though Nami can stop liking him so suddenly, either.

Cute but rather generic, as in its just another school shojo. I like this type of relationship, and it made me smile but from the boy giving her cough drops to her being rejected, I've read it all before. Plus, it's really short so it doesn't have a chance to break away from the mold much. Sometimes I hate this genre and some times I love it, this story falls somewhere in between. It doesn't have a hook but it's cute to read, it wasn't a waste of time, either.





3/5 I won't say don't read it because it is adorable.

Melange! by Keiko Nigushi

Genre: Shojo

Length: One Chapter - 40 Pages

Art is... shojo, really that is about the only way to describe it. Lots of shojo from this time look like this, pointed chins and big eyes. Clothes are good, but don't have a lot of variety. Expressions are the same. The 'art' element of the story is basically just tones on square canvas so don't expect to see much. It's professional looking, and there are sufficient backgrounds to not look bare.

Art and story (c) Keiko Nigushi

Kumayoshi likes black and nothing else but black, other colors just don't interest him in any way. So when he meets a high energy girl who likes to use every color in every painting she creates, he finds himself exhausted just looking at her work. All th he same, she wants to work together?

For a boy meets annoying girl shojo one-shot, this one is interesting and different enough to pass as original. I know my assessment of the art sounds bad, but Melange! has enough of a look to be on its own. I mean, if you are afraid of seeing generic and stylized art, shojo manga is not the place for you. I really liked it, despite the fact that the 'art pieces' they create is only tones, the characters are fun and cute. The mangaka maybe related too much on Kumayoshi thinking to explain things but he gets a pass for being a dork.

3/5 As far as one-shots go, amusing, but probably not worth a reread.