Ichigo Jikan

Brief Storyline:
A girl (15 years old) goes to her new school and discovers that the dorm she was supposed to be staying in is under renovation and she has nowhere to stay. After some begging, the school admin gives her the key to an apartment, which she later discovers is where the Chairman (aged 16 yrs!) stays...

As some have already commented, the guy looks like he's around 20 and the girl looks pubescent. The story is quite basic shojo fare and I think if you have read enough shojo you would know what to expect to happen from page one onwards. The guy, despite his cold tsundere look, is actually pretty decent to her. She, on the other hand, is somewhat ditzy but still bearable. She is also supposed to be rather smart, where studies are concerned.

The storyline is a bit confusing at the end where new elements are added in a rush. There are some bits of other plot concerning the guy's competition as Chairman of the school.

Possible Spoiler
The mom is rather silly though IMHO. Actually, her words of encouragement for them to "get it on" were a bit of a put off to me. I mean, she was like meeting that guy for the first time and there was no guarantee he would take any responsibility.

Spoiler (highlight to read)

Also think it would have been nicer if she had actually been proposed to, rather than have the guy tell the whole world that they were getting married without even asking her first.

Storyline: C+
Art: B+
Recommended? Suspend disbelief and just enjoy the art and some sweet moments between the two.

Crown - originally written on 16 Jan, updated 12 May

Brief Storyline: An orphan girl is suddenly grabbed from her part time job by her long lost brother, Ren, who, with his good friend, Jake, has come to protect her. Apparently they are royalty and targets of a deadly plot to obtain the throne.

The guys are of course bishi (first things first eh? ;p) and I'm pretty sure those who loved Gakuen Heaven would have a field day with this one too (it being by the same artist). The drawing overall is good, although there are some unfilled in eyes and other parts in scenes here and there. In the action scenes, the backgrounds are drawn in rather more detail to help in understanding what is happening. The guys all look rather different so it is easy to tell them apart.

The author and the artist are different and of opposite sexes. Interesting. So, I'm not sure if that colors my judgement that it is not as girly girl as other shojo, besides the "hot guys" (quoted from the author's words) and silly shojo girl. The last few pages give a tiny bit of entertaining insight into this collaboration.

The girl is, as mentioned, somewhat silly, and a bit too sweet, naive and is more like a little pet or elementary school child than a high schooler. Some of her expressions are rather dramatic and cringeworthy. The guys hold much of the story with their skill and action as mercenary soldiers, in protecting the girl from danger but the girl also has a special natural "talent".

A bit bloodthirsty as quite a few people lose their lives. Not as innocent in this respect as most shojo. The two are really merciless. I suppose it is a life or death fight, but still, a more sanitized storyline would have them solve it another way I suppose, but then again, not everything can be sanitized.

The characters have chemistry and there are a few humourous moments in between killings. :) Ok, ok, it is after all a shojo so one isn't expecting fantastic violence or gore and I believe the creators were going after a comedic feel as well. Thus, there are some really cheesy moments played out and some strange scenes. There are also some OTT emotional moments that don't seem to quite gel with the merciless bloodthirsty atmosphere but probably help to make it more shojo than shonen.


Possible Spoiler
The relationship between the brother and sister is ambiguous, and from comments I've read it seems I'm not the only one to get the insinuations. Some feel it's an incest tease but a few predict that there may be a twist there although in volume two there is not much further indication/development of this, especially if you see the first few pages (the weird scene I was referring to).

The guys' relationship also have slight shonen ai overtones in some of the scenes, although I would say that it is rather minor (well, the artist does do this genre). The story is also starting to develop a slight very much reverse harem feeling at the end, with the two bodyguards already (Jake and Ren, her brother) and now another guy, Chrondrite Condor (interesting name yeah?) probably interested in Mahiro. At the end of volume two, there's another guy to join the harem!

I find Mahiro even more unbelievable when this cute little supposedly sweet silly girl sees her Jake and Ren killing people and things blowing up and she is completely unfazed. Nor is she fazed when she is almost killed. Strange.

An aside - the volume one in my hand is this yellow cover one. Is there really a blue colored cover?

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B
Recommended? Eye candy - quite a few cool bishies. Storyline is atypical and rather fast paced, action orientated, with bits of comedy and unexpected twists.

Licensed by Go!Comi

Latest booktore visit

Went to the bookstore to look for Ichigo Jikan (草莓时间) which I remember seeing before (now wondering if I saw wrongly as baka updates says there are zero volumes out?? But really thot I saw it cos I remember thinking the girl looks like a elementary schoolgirl...sidetracking) and ended up with Watashi no + Okusuri (baka updates link) (我的爱情魔药) because the cover was somewhat cuter than the rest of the limited stuff there. I didn't even know the Japanese title and had to google for it. Cos the Chinese title is just "My love potion". I was wondering where the other volumes are, but came to realise it's complete at one volume. I'll write a review once I complete it. Hopefully the impulse buy will prove to be interesting, but I should really stop buying on impulse!

Gakuen Ouji

I couldn't find the English cover online so had to settle for this one. I was surprised to see it in English and our local publisher has published four five volumes of it as well (in Chinese). Surprised cos some of the more popular titles didn't seem to be translated or were dropped whilst this one I'm wondering if it will appeal to that many people.

Just to say it is quite a strange manga that I really wouldn't recommend to those whose sensibilities are still intact. It's a rather brutal turn on the guy being the sex obsessed to the girl/s being the ones. It was amusing but it is rather exaggerated and can I guess, be distasteful for some, as despite it all I still think there is a bit of sexism and the girls are seen as having 1D personalities that only focus on that one thing. Also read comments of those who have ventured further than me and they weren't that good, including something about the guy not being very nice to the girl. I really need decent male protags. ;p (me and my happy endings...).

Seduction more beautiful than love

Manhwa finished at 5 volumes, 2 volumes out in English, vol. 3 out on 4 November 2008. Decided to update this as I have been waiting for the third volume forever and was just wondering if my bookstore wasn't bringing it in. On Tokyopop's website, it is still at vol. 2. Guess there just wasn't demand for this.

Brief Summary: Pretty young teacher is harassed by handsome mysterious student who seems to have a crush on her, or is it something else?

Interesting title isn't it? The other alternative is "beautiful fascination better than love". I do find this a bit slow moving and up to volume 2 there isn't much development of the characters or plot. (Is it just me or are most manhwa rather? Just think Bride of the Water God and Goong/Palace).

I was a bit disappointed with the teacher's character, she didn't seem very mature, but perhaps it was that one bad incident that really brought it out. The guy is as usual a dark horse, dunno what is going on inside his mind at all and there are flashbacks to suggest that something horrible happened in his past (which we're sure to find out later). I think it might be related to the reason he's stalking/having a crush on the teacher. I think I do need a reason; or else it's just not meaningful. Read a comment that it gets creepy in book four, but I wouldn't know since book three is not even out in English yet. I'm just glad it doesn't seem to drag since it's complete at book five. Let's hope it settles all the issues nicely. Frankly the first chapters got me interested but after reading book 2 the interest faded. I'm right now not sure if I'm going to follow the rest.

The art seems quite typical of manhwa, not over cutesy (with long bodies) as is to be expected I guess, as the characters are not young, and also the topic is rather serious.

One of my friends told me she can't appreciate this and the storyline wasn't good, another told me that it was pretty good and the art wasn't bad. So, guess it's really up to the eye of the beholder.

My Rating:
Story: B- (too slow! a bit confusing with the guy's girl friend, etc. angst! I wonder if it's the translation or it's just not coming out in the art what's going on or is it just me?)
Art: B
Recommended? I am on the fence. I just don't know where all this is going. There doesn't seem to be much direction and so far don't really feel much for any of the characters. And, the publisher doesn't seem interested in it anymore so perhaps we'll not see the end of this series for a while (ever?).
Similar to: Somehow reminds me of Akahime Ranshin, but then again I know of only four titles (the other I won't mention since it's not worth mentioning) that involve this female teacher male student relationship as a storyline. The other one that I did find was one of the stories in a volume called Koi Moyou. That was a bit different but quite a rush too as it's only a oneshot.

B.O.D.Y.

Came across this a few times but never started it, probably cos for some reason I got the idea that the girl would be rather ill treated by the guy. I have wondered where I got this perception, esp after I read it and it's rather different. I think it's actually from the synopsis at the back where it says, "will she finally wise up?" and "She could hire him to date her, but she'd rather win his heart" making it seem like an arduous journey to get him to like/pay attention to her. So it was rather a pleasant surprise that he's actually rather decent to her, though there are times when he teases and makes use of the fact that she is so naive and gullible.

Story: B+
Art: B
Recommended? I actually only like the art somewhat; the characters aren't really that bishie. There isn't much detail in it and it is just about fine to tell a story with. The story itself is also not spectacular, but it can be sweet. The guy is pretty decent and not violent, whiny, arrogant (well, not too much).

Lovely Complex/Love Com

Didn't start this one earlier as it's going past 15 volumes. ;p The art is ok but it isn't really in the style that I like. The guys aren't bishonen for one thing. :)

This story is very very very slow. It's totally unlike B.O.D.Y. is all I can say. :) The development is so excruciatingly played out that I just wondered whether I should skip a few chapters, erm, volumes. But I guess in this instance one really can't complain that there isn't any development of the relationship and that they just jump into it without reason. :) It's innocent, and the classmates are for once, not the "push you down, throw garbage on you, put blades in your book" garden variety. There are times when I really felt for the girl as she's dealing with the difficulties in the relationship and loving the guy. I'm not very interested to read on after vol. 7 but apparently there is some angst coming up.

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Kitchen Princess

Brief Summary: An orphan girl who's very talented in cooking/baking enrolls in a school for chefs to find the boy that saved her from drowning many years ago.

I don't know if I could give a proper review of this seeing as how I read vols 3 and 5 and skipped all else. I couldn't resist and wiki'd it before I started and realised that there's something that happens later I'm not quite sure I like but it's just a personal preference cos I'm such a sucker for happy endings.

The drawing is very cute and sweet and plus, all the characters' eyes are drawn in (ok, another personal preference. ;p). However, the art doesn't go into details and is not very intricate. Besides the pastries, details on clothes and backgrounds are close to nil. In fact, if you notice, most of the panes have no backgrounds at all, except some splotches. But then again, quite a few manga series don't have backgrounds. The two main male characters are cute, but could be twins if not for the difference in hair color. Generally, probably because they are around 14 years old, the characters look very young and child-like. They are the very typical Jap anime/manga cutesies.

The story is quite simple up to vol.5 but I read from the author's notes that from there onwards, she is heading it in another direction. I can't give more details without spoiling but there is a major happening in Vol. 5 that may take the overall story a notch up in complication.

The recipes of the pastries/cakes/etc that are featured in the story are found at the back of the book, together with a few pages preview of the next volume, the latter albeit in Japanese.

I don't have the urge to finish this at the moment.

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B+
Recommended? Very simple, sweet story of a girl and two cute boys.

More info:
Wikipedia
Vol. 4 Review and Vol. 6 Review at Comics Worth Reading
Vol. 4 Review at Manga Life


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Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

Ongoing Manga

Brief Summary: A girl comes to look for the help of a detective when her friend falls into a coma after a "test of courage" in which she meets a ghost.

He actually looks a bit girly in this cover, no? ;p But somehow I liked it quite a lot for a while, plus the story is all right. The drawing is nice and pretty and the two protags have a lot of chemistry though they are not romantically involved as yet in the first volume.

The guy takes the lead in the mystery solving but the girl is sharp and an able side kick (most of the time). At first, the girl is skeptical but later realises that the guy knows more than meets the eye as he is able to preceive and communicate with spirits/ghosts, including the female protag's dead twin sister.

My Rating:
Art: B
Story: B
Recommended? The storyline is quite engaging so far although it isn't really exceptional.

King of the Lamp, Tenshi Ja Nai and Ultimate Venus

King of the Lamp

Manga: Complete at one volume

Brief Summary: Five oneshots in one volume, with three on the same premise of a genie helping girls find love. The fourth and fifth ones have light supernatural themes building up to a romance.

Got this as I liked Ultimate Venus and I like the mangaka's drawings overall, for its clean and neat appeal. However, as mentioned below, once again the characters look exactly like her previous ones. For one of the stories, you would not be wrong to think the female protag was the one in Ultimate Venus and wonder if it was an extra/side story of sorts to that.

The first three are rather typical boy meets girl or vice versa and girl falls for him, tries to get his attention/affection. So fortunate there is a genie around the corner that is actually a womanising king that has been given the punishment of helping at least 1000 girls fulfil their love requests. Rather simple stories.

The fourth one seemed a bit different from any that I've read from her so far and it was the most interesting to me, although the ending was again predictable and came a bit too abruptly (mainly cos it's a oneshot I suppose so it couldn't be helped).

The fifth one, as I've also read on ANN, wasn't that good. I agree. It seemed a bit strange and fluffy. It was one of her earlier works.

This volume is a bit more "racy" (is that the word?) than the other series she's done (although nothing explicit). Think she was targetting a bit older readers (teens as opposed to tweens , although in this day and age...). I think I must add that a friend of mine who read this was a bit taken aback by it despite reading (and liking) Ultimate Venus. I would say it's not near smut but as mentioned, there are some intimate scenes. I must say that I wouldn't argue with my friend that we both hope it doesn't teach teenagers that it's a shame not to lose "it" and that sex equates to love, or that one needs to use sex to gain love from the man. Unfortunately, it might. And that's the worry.

My Rating:
Story: C
Art: B-

Recommended? An ok read, but nothing really out of the ordinary and each story is rather too short. A stronger linking background story (the part about the genie) would be have good for the first three stories. As it is the first three are rather disjointed and can be read in any order.

Tenshi Ja Nai

Manga: Completed at 8 Volumes.

Brief Summary: A guy pretends to be a girl and attends an all girl's school because he is in showbiz as a girl. A new student discovers his secret and...(you know where this is going)

This one is a break in the usual routine, being the opposite of the usual girl disguises as guy and gets into an all boys’ school (think Hana Kimi, Ouran High School Host Club and Girl Got Game). Instead, very strangely, it’s a boy that dresses and acts like a girl. Of course that provides the comedy and of course someone finds out early on. The whole premise thereafter becomes rather clichéd again but there are a few original twists and turns.

For one thing, I do appreciate that the girl is not so dotty, immature and ditzy as some others (really tired of the girl struggling with making chocolate for the boy – enough already, thankfully no such thing in this one). She usually has her head screwed on tight and doesn’t loose it to “love”. However, do feel she’s more like the guy in this series sometimes, as the guy is now a “girl”.

There is a bit of reverse harem as well, with at least three guys falling for the girl. There’s even a teacher-student element thrown in, together with blackmail and other side themes. There’s also a serious love rival with no big faults but I shall not give that away.

And then you must have the fangirls (I really wonder after reading all these whether Jap girls are really in any way like this - it’s really too exaggerated!). The guy, as a girl, also has a whole host of them. And fanboys too, obviously. So these cause the girl protagonist grief.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B-

Recommended? Interesting for the twist in concept, with many different other side stories thrown in. Not particularly wow, but readable.

Similar: All those others I mentioned above regarding the girl-boy disguises. Actually, it also reminds me of her new work, Ultimate Venus. The characters have you going deja vu!

Also someone mentioned Maria Holic was similar but there are more shojo ai overtones in that one (am not quite sure it is going to be "romance" boy girl style)

Ultimate Venus

Brief Summary: Orphaned girl gets adopted by super rich grandma.

The storyline is quite interesting, but still it is pretty much a Cinderella story where the poor girl realises she is actually a "princess" (I mean in the sense she is now super rich). There is some mystery behind the relationship between her mother and the grandmother that is still waiting to be hatched. There is also some ominous happenings when she's at school that is linked to her being the candidate to inheriting her grandma's companies (and thus wealth).

And then there are the bishi boys/men. There are two main contenders - the guy who is assigned to look after her bodyguard style and a classmate. Later there is another one but I won't give his role away. Their motivations are made a bit more clear in volumes 2 and 3, but the story is still quite slow going. Now after reading volume three, it's starting to develop into a reverse harem. :)

The girl follows the usual shojo school girl character somewhat - rather naive and ditzy, getting easily agitated. On the other hand, at least she's not too clumsy or stupid.

I must say that the characters look too similar to Tenshi Ja Nai, which was written by the same mangaka. Actually, in her extra story in vol 3, the characters look the same as the ones in the main story itself.

All in all, it sounds promising and hope the development gets better and not head down the hill of a routine shojo plot....even husband read it! ;p heeheh

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B, the characters look alike mostly, and the drawing is clean but the scenes and characters are not very elaborately drawn or detailed. There is just enough to make the panes look pretty mostly.
Recommended? Sounds interesting so far.

More info:
Bakaupdates

Boku Wa Kiss de Uso o Tsuku

Ongoing manga

Summary: A girl finds herself kissed one day whilst asleep in the library. When she wakes up, she realises that there are four boys in the library and she has to figure out who did it by herself as no one is telling.

This is the best promotion for going to the library as any I've come across (and will likely!). Apparently, being a bookworm (bordering on nerdy?) and well read can get you plenty of attention. For the protagonist here, she is swatting away four contenders! There's the delinquent cassanova looking type, there's the studious one, the shotacon and the sporty (kinda reminds me of Ouran)! Nearly every bishie school shojo type is present. And, so the story goes, after the girl falls asleep in the library, one of them kisses her and it's up to her to shift through all the lies and the boys' shennanigans to find out just which of them it is. Really, a schoolgirl's fantasy to have such a wonderful harem of bishies...now now, just to find out who the kisser was...

Frankly, very unreal silly shojo. There is no real reason given on why the boys like the girl so things are a bit unrealistic and unlikely. :) Husband exclaimed after I told him briefly of the plot, "That can make a story??!!". Oh well.

My Rating:
Story: C
Art: B
Recommended? Very simple story. Eyecandy.

Bokura wa Itsumo

Ongoing manga

Cute innocent shojo. Two bishi guys, two pretty girls, all childhood friends, though it's not what you think - they don't really pair up, at least not in the beginning, as they are either with different people or not with anyone at all. The characters are really cute (as mentioned) but they are a bit youngish/more juvenile looking. Till now I'm still not getting how old one is supposed to be in their middle school/high school (is it the same as the US system?).

The guys, if they didn't have different color hair, might have ended up looking like twins though. For the girls, it seems like the usual shojo device where you have the main character (Nori) a bit more ditzy than her friend (Saeka), though spunky and happy go lucky.

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B+
Recommended? It's a cute story so far.
Similar to: Read someone mention it seems to be a better imitation of Marmalade Boy.
Also by author: Shuu 7

Penguin Revolution

Completed manga
by Tsukura Sakura

A simple sweet story about teens in showbiz, seems to be written for younger audiences (tweens?) The somewhat complex storyline twists on one hand but doesn't really delve enough into the characterization on the other hand. I wish there was more depth in the characters, especially Ayamori. Despite him being a protaganist and star in the story, he comes off as rather bland. The other male protagonist (starting to sound like a harem? Ya, come to think of it she does have these three bishis and at least two of them have shown interest in her, so perhaps...) isn't much better. The usual shojo devices and feel. Despite the bishi guys, for most of the story, the romance element isn't much there. The story/premise taken by itself is rather unbelievable so be ready to suspend disbelief completely.

My Rating
Story: C
Art: C+
Recommended? Just ok for a light read and innocent characters.

Also by author/artist: Makakushi No Kuni, Yoroshiku Master, Amai Kamiato, Birthday Presents, Shiro no Keiyaku, Tonari no Inuyama-kun

Monkey High

Ongoing manga

A rather strange but cute shojo. Quite a sweet (and so far innocent) story that seems more for a younger audience. The guy is a bit childish but that's his character style and he's supposed to resemble a monkey(thus the title). A very unlikely "hero" for a romance but refreshing. The girl is the "cooler" one, calm and composed. It's heartwarming when she realises that his endearing and innocent ways are what attracts him to her, despite his silly and not so sophisticated ways.

I would say this is different just for the fact that the guy is not your average oh so cool rich kid. He's just the kid next door, sweet and unassuming, a bit too silly and immature. However, the story does get a bit repetitive from chapter to chapter when the same formula runs that the girl gets embarrassed with the guy but then realises how sweet he is...then, repeat.

My Rating:
Story: C
Art: B-
Recommended: ok, for a different story but think in some ways it is a bit repetitive.

Full House Kiss

Ongoing Manga
Author: Yuwa Shiori

This is the somewhat common formula of having the girl become an orphan and coming to stay with some handsome guy (or guys in this case) due to some dire consequences (I think we've read one or two like this?). The only thing that stands out is that there is some underlying mystery concerning the deaths of her parents and the disappearance of her sister.

The guys are all different and the girl is so far not that silly but she is not that smart either.

Strangely this is based on/related to ? some game which I've never seen before but the description I read on wiki was quite funny and strange (and a bit ambiguous).

My Rating:
Story: B-
Art: B-
Recommended: Interesting, but besides the mystery it's also quite typical.
Similar to: I saw quite a few comments that this is very similar to Fruits Basket, but I've not read that so I can't say. I haven't really gone through Wallflower but in essence there is a similarity, though I would say the emphasis for that one is really quite different.

More info:
Bakaupdates

Beauty Pop

Ongoing Manga

Thought this would be a bit different as there is some refreshing storyline about the girl having some talent (hairdressing), but in the end, I don't think I'll continue to follow this as they just keep showing episodic makeovers of different people in different situations, and there isn't much interaction between the girl and the guy and if you're looking for romance it's kinda disappointing when you don't find any after a few chapters. Ok, so I didn't finish this so perhaps it gets better. Those who read it will have to enlighten me cos I'm dropping this from my reading list until I get really bored/free.

My Rating:
Story: C-
Art: B-
Recommended? As far as the first two volumes or so goes, I don't think so.

Cultural Festival

Ok, another rant, though I already have a feeling I"ll have to finish this one by and by. Just wanted to express amazement (is that the word?) that there are so many instances of cultural events - there's one in nearly every school life related manga! Let's see...Gakuen Alice, check, Special A, check, Ouran High School Host Club, Ultimate Venus, yep yep yep....A lot more...And, the thing is, most of their cultural activities (except Gakuen Alice where the children are really too young for the concept) are bulter/host clubs. ??? This tried and tested formula seems to be getting repeated a bit too often. There needs to be some other ingredient.

7 Jikanme Rhapsody

Manga Complete

This is probably one of the best teacher-student short mangas I've read. And what I like about this is how (ok, the premise is still silly) the teacher is so level headed and knows exactly what a teacher-student relationship should not be. Ok, maybe this sounds very ambiguous, but I'm really trying to not spoil it for you.

One thing I didn't like though, was the smoking by the Sensei (a bit hard to see but the scene is above). Yep, that gets on my nerves cos I don't know why mangas have to protray them like that, and then draw them in such "cool" positions. I just feel it gives off the wrong impression, even in this day and age when people know about lung cancer and all. Especially for teens since we know these mangas are targetted towards them and we also know for a fact that smoking is harder to quit the younger you start. Ok, ok, I'm getting off my pedestal, jus that well, with all the stealth marketing and product placement, you just never know!

Regarding the art, the two characters are ok, not extremely bishi or pretty but ok. I think the guy looks like the other teacher in Faster than a Kiss which is this mangaka's work too (No surprise?). He can look a bit dorky at times. ;p And, this author's a guy?? Think first time I've hread a guy's work, most mangakas are ladies.

My Rating:
Story: B- (cliched!)
Art: B
Recommended? A bit (teensy) refreshing, you can give it a try if you've not had too many of these student-teacher stories, but if you have, you can also give it a miss.

Similar to: All the rest! The characters understandably look like those in Faster than a Kiss (cos same artist).

Teachers...

Wow, at this point I must say that there are LOADS of shojo with this teacher-student thing going on. What gives? I read someone else commenting the same and that they've never fallen for a teacher and can't understand it. Me neither. Firstly I think the students are really just that - students. The maturity is just not level. The girls are interested in little trinkets, polishing their nails, winning the next game, getting to school on time, their hair in place (ok, no offense to any students reading this post ;p I'm saying this is how the girls are portrayed in these mangas)...etc.etc...surely the more mature and older male teachers are thinking of other things? Well, erm, sometimes they are, and it leads to trouble, if you know what I mean! Ok, so this genre is a fantasy. I get that. Here are some with bishi teachers and the premise that starts it all:

1. Chocolate Chaos: Nothing special in how they get together. The girl just happens onto the teacher during an outing to the beach.
2. Crossroad: The girl basically uses the teacher as emotional support from her problems at home with her brother (brother-sister relationship).
3. Aakahime Ranshin: Female teacher gives extra lessons to a student who isn't in school much as he is involved in kabuki.
4. 7 Jikanme Rhapsody: Girl gets close to teacher who runs counseling sessions on love.
5. Secret Kiss: Very simply, the "teacher" is the girl's cram school instructor.
6. Faster than a kiss: Girl and her brother are orphans and the teacher sort of "adopts" them through marrying the girl.

Basically, the elements of this genre focus on the fact that this type of relationship is frown upon (irony isn't it?) and so they try to hide the relationship from others in school.

For more, click on the teacher-student label.

Kare Kano/Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou

Manga finished at 21 Volumes




Brief Summary: A girl's hard earned popularity is jeopardized by a new male transfer student who seems to be just (if not even) smarter and good looking. A one sided rivalry ensues but soon develops into something else.

Didn't pick this one up at first cos of a few things - the drawing is simple and didn't really appeal to me (guess it was the style of the time), the storyline seemed childish and I really didn't see myself going through 21 volumes of it! Decided to read it cos well, it's available in the library.

The pace is quite fast and despite the rather youngish look and actions of the characters, there are a bit of endearing mature issues addressed starting in the volume I'm left at, volume 5. The same issues of girl bullying and a love rival are included but they are treated a bit differently, in a bit less exaggerated way I suppose. The girl is seen to be quite level headed and despite her initial outbursts of irritation at having him usurp her star position, she doesn't get silly in being overly jealous or possessive. You get the feeling that the author is trying to say that despite having a relationship you don't need to be clingy to have it grow, sometimes being apart can be a good thing too. I think that's what's refreshing about this series, although at the same time, because it is so balanced and "nice" it doesn't seem to illicit strong feelings from me and I don't really have a strong urge to keep following it because it seems so safe and secure and the complications seem entirely solvable in a sane manner.

Overall the series has a sweet innocent feel to it so far. I understand that the later issues have them progressing in their relationship outside of school and into adult life so perhaps the series itself will get more and more mature and complex, rather than dealing just with the usual school issues it now does.

My Rating
Story: B
Art: C
Recommended? Didn't really like the art, it was too simplistic and the people weren't bishi enough! But the story is rather sweet if not convoluted and ambling along sometimes. It is after all, 21 volumes!

More information:
Baka updates