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.

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

Something serious - The Penal Code

After a friend told me about an article in the local press in which a 32 year old lady wrote about her 20 year old husband, we got to discussing the older-woman-younger-man relationship (with a rather large age gap where the guy may be barely out of school and the girl already in a career). This led to the discussion of teacher-student relationships. Then, rather coincidentally, it was reported in the news yesterday that the first person to be charged with having sex with a minor is a (bispectacled - ok, you wonder why that was included in the news reports) 32 year old teacher and the boy is a 15 year old student. Of course, now there are speculations of whether he is her student. This popular genre, romantized in so many mangas, is no joke. She may be heading to jail for ten years.

Another point we had been discussing, and were unclear about, which was surprisingly answered through this article - the minor need not be a girl, even consensual sex with an underaged male is now an offence. This is after the change in law to protect minors regardless of sex since Feb this year. All along, we knew the Women's Charter protected female minors but now the Penal Code protects male minors. Equality of the sexes? Reminds me too of the amendment in the rules of dog licensing...(but let's not sidetrack)...

I think, as I wrote about before (some iffy things about manga), there seem to be some elements that may be downright dangerous or immoral in manga, that is framed as being seductively appealing. Is this type of story going to promote such behavior as it may glamorize the situation or have people thinking it is right or even fantisizing about it? There is no telling, with media effects being a very iffy topic as there are so many other factors to consider. However, I would still say that at the very least these stories put the idea of such into our heads. That is the least. I think at the most, it could encourage us to think more about it. As the popular saying goes, media tells us what to think and how to think about it. To me, the stories seem to say, it may not be acceptable but it can be so fun. (erm, not!)

Did a search on google news and found at least another two similar reports on this topic on the same date. It seems this type of criminal act occurs rather often! Everyone seems to remember also remember a particular teacher-student relationship that spanned more than a decade.

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.

Chocolate Cosmos

Brief Summary: Girl enters high school wanting a relationship. Meets an attractive guy during a beach outing with classmates and discovers he's actually her home ed teacher. But that's not going to stop her!

Attracted cos the characters seemed pretty but passed it over initially as it seemed a bit too kiddy. Well, having gone through it, it follows the usual shoujo teacher-student plot (started it not knowing it was one of those). The girl takes one hour to do her nails (ok, ok, is it my age? Just felt she should be concentrating on something more productive) and the teacher actually takes an interest in that. Strange? He is a bit effeminate now that I think of it. ;p He is the home ed teacher but guess really that doesn't make a difference. A man that can cook is a good idea.

Not much out at the moment so will write more later, but frankly I may not get down to it as I may not even read any more. It isn't a very compelling read.

My Rating:
Story: C+
Art: B
Recommended? Very simple, straightforward so far. If you're crazy about teacher-student...

Crossroad

Manga complete at 7 Volumes

Brief Summary: Three unrelated teenagers who lived together as siblings when young are forced to live together again after seven years of separation.

Ok, admit my summary is the pits. After going through the manga, it seems to be a mix of everything. There is brother-sister, and there is teacher-student, both very popular "forbidden love" themes that are probably supposed to bring out some angst and emotional frustration.

There were some elements that I found confusing in this, such as the girl's relationship with the teacher (and realised later I'm not the only one as someone else has commented they stopped reading this because of this part which they can't get at all). It was ambiguous yet hinted of very deep feelings. It became quite central to the story, and although I am supposing the main focus was still the relationship between the "brother and sister" who are actually both adopted and therefore unrelated, it caused a strange sidetrack/diversion.

There was also the relationship of the male protagonist (the brother) and another girl which was also confusing as they seemed to like, yet, be using each other. And then, this relationship of the brother doesn't seem to bother the girl protagonist in any big way (isn't is supposed to be that the rival is there to create major heart rending problems?) and so it goes the other way around too with the girl's relationship with the sensei (teacher). At the end, it doesn't even appear the brother knows about it. So this is a different treatment as jealousy isn't the main aim here. There is something else. It is a strange story.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B-
Recommended? Ok, but think need to spend more time figuring it out. Or maybe on the other hand, just don't read too much into it. This mangaka has another series going called Cy Believers. Sounds erm, just as confusing.

Akahime Ranshin

This oneshot manga actually got me started on the teacher-student genre but actually was disappointed in all the ones I found after this one. I particularly like this because it is quite subtle and sweet. The ending is left to your imagination. Usually I like a better clear cut ending, but I guess it was good this way too (altho I wouldn't mind if they came out with part 2).

Some other things I liked were that this is a female teacher and male student, whereas most with this topic is the other way (male teacher who smokes too much more likely). I also like that the guy is not overly hyper, perverted or agressive and isn't childish in the least really. That's nice for once, cos the difference between the student and teacher isn't so exaggerated, which I think is good or else it makes the whole relationship unbelieveable. There's jus some good chemistry between the two protagonists.

My Rating:
Story: B
Art: B
Recommended? Good for a quick read.
Similar: Can't think of any in particular at the moment.