Joyful Days?

Status: Complete

Meet Keigo Saitou, a young high school student who has had a crush on his classmate Arai for years. Sadly for him, though, Arai hasn't noticed a single thing, and only sees him as a close friend. She's trying to live the Shoujo Dream, but Saitou manages to crop up whenever she's hoping to find that One True HS Love. A cute little winter's tale, perfect for that waiting you need to do for a video to finish buffering.

Art - 6.5 / 10.0
Very standard. The boy isn't a bishie, but I guess that's sort of the point. The characters look realistic, as does the landscape. But it's your textbook shoujo when it comes to the style.

Plot/Concept - 7.6 / 10.0
Kudos for having a romantic shoujo told from a male lead's POV for once instead of a female's, but the plot didn't win any major brownie points with me. It was a very sweet and light read, but I have a feeling I'll forget it after another manga or two. Bonus points for no random love/hate/kiss-at-first-sight scenarios, though.


Characters - 7.7 / 10.0
Realistic, easy to relate to, but nothing special. Arai is a bubbly and happy-go-lucky girl with a positive outlook on life, able to find something entertaining about everything; Saitou is just your average guy (though maybe a tad smarter). No bishie stereotype here, so another plus for that -- but there's nothing anchoring you to the characters, so I feel little to nothing for them.

Romance - 7.5 / 10.0
Cute enough. Once again, emphasis on the realism. But hardly anything when it comes to the field of doki-doki action.

-----

Well, this was rather... short. I've read plenty of oneshots, but for a 50-page-turner, I'd at least expect a little more action than I was given. It was just the right balance between sweet and cliché, but that's about it. There's nothing negative about it, at least. If you've got time to spare, this is perfect. You can finish it in a matter of minutes. Other than that, there's nothing special.

Overall Rating - 7.4 / 10.0
Credit for scans: Esthetique

Gakuen Ouji

Status: Ongoing
Also known as: Gakuen Prince

Joshi High - a former all-female school that recently became co-ed, and at first glance, every man's dream. Due to strict lifestyle girls are forced to live, their lust towards men has grown to its peak and they throw themselves over any guy that enters through the school gates like starved animals... literally, starved animals.

Sadly for our main protagonist Mizutani Azusa, that seems to be the case. Being a bishie has never been harder when an army of fangirls are ready to rape you on your first day at school. Desperate for a way out, he does the only thing he can think of: he uses friendless megane girl Okitsu Rise as his shield and tells the whole school she's his girlfriend!

Art - 9.3 / 10.0
Say whatever you want about Azusa, but the boy is hot. This mangaka sure knows how to draw her bishies: say goodbye to the stick-like, femboys you've ever known and say hello to toned, tall ikemen that spend the majority of the series half-naked. And some facial expressions are just drawn perfectly. And the way the jokes are pulled off in this manga are awesome; the art is just the right balance between sparkly and non-sparkly. Because, as you know, sparkliness is what shoujo comedy is all about. (Half of it, anyway.)


Plot - 9.6 / 10.0
So here's the deal: either you're squealing right now in unison with me, or you're giving me a man-are-you-crazy-look whilst reading. Or you haven't read this manga at all, which you should do the second you exit this page, and make up your mind what you think about it.

Somebody at Baka-Updates called this manga a 'hit or miss' manga, and I agree to 100%. This kind of series isn't something for everybody. Also, all the readers seem to have different perceptions of it. Some of it love the delicious drama and eat it right up, sparkly or non-sparkly; others find the entire thing hilarious and laugh their way even through the serious panels. Yet again others find themselves disgusted by the set-up and refuse to read any further.

If you haven't read it yet, you'll probably find it's a combination of all three. You just have to see which side you prefer.

....Still got a hard time choosing?

As for me, I love the plot. Really. It's as ridiculous as it can possibly become, sometimes -- but exaggerations be damned, it's a shoujo. I get a handful of reality every single day, and as much as I love it applied to two-dimensional, black-and-white figures with too-big-eyes and always-perfect-hair, some exaggerations are allowed. After all, we're talking about the genre where it's a common occurence that gorgeous celebrity guys appear at your school and fall in love with you out of all girls fawning over him, and where it's considered normal that you trip over your own feet and have your first kiss with your archenemy (and soon-to-be love of your life). That's just shoujo, people. Get used to it.

Also, it isn't that unrealistic, if you think about it. Remember that whole Dionysus party thing in Ancient Greece? Where all these cooped up women who were forced to abide by the strict rules of society let loose and tore apart wild animals with their bare hands and ate them raw? Yeah, it's sort of like that, in a modern version. Besides, I used to have an idol-like guy at my high school. If the girls hadn't been half as oversexed as they already were there, it wouldn't have surprised me if they pulled off some stunts depicted in the manga. (Then, of course, there are some things that are just plain crazy, but yeah.) /rant

My musings about the realism of this series aside, I think the plot twists are pretty damn good here. It keeps me hanging, wondering what is going to happen next. I just wish it could proceed forward a little bit faster and more naturally, because the pace they're going at right now is Shounen Jump-esque. We have long arcs depicting one single day, and then the days suddenly fly by and you don't even know how long time has passed. But other than that, I think it's awesome.


Characters - 9.4 / 10.0
It's like the series itself: either you hate 'em or you love 'em. There's really no in-between. As for me, I love the protagonists. Mizutani is neither your stereotypical moron, happy-go-lucky guy or bad guy. He's just a guy, with all his faults and good sides, and that's what makes him so special. The same goes for the girl, Okitsu: she's strong, but in a different way than your usual shoujo heroines. (Although she does have a healthy dose of tsundere à strong heroines...) The dynamic between them is remarkable.

However, there are some characters that just don't make sense - the villains are too two-dimensional, too evil. There's no motif, no anything. I know there are just plain sadistic people in this world, but somehow it just feels like an excuse to throw the protagonists into scenarios where they can either a) show off skin or b) have moments of lublub.

Romance - 8.6 / 10.0
Well, it's definitely not your stereotypical light-hearted first-love shoujo, that's all I can say. As this manga leans towards the smuttier kind, it's also leaning towards a more rough, violent kind of romance à Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu. The good part is that it's not your fave bishie doing the nasty shit, but nonetheless, there are quite a few scenes that will just outright awaken your disgust or incredulity. Even so, the protagonists themselves have really cute moments. I think the romance is developed at a natural pace (I know I put so much emphasis on this, but I hate love-at-first-sight stories), and you can relate to it somehow, despite its unnatural set-up.

----

To be honest, I don't really know whether I should recommend this or not. Gakuen Ouji in my opinion is brilliant - plotholes galore in some areas, too much ecchi in some others, but brilliant nonetheless - but if you're the conservative kind, you're better off sticking to your innocent male leads like Ren in Strobe Edge or Kazehaya in Kimi ni Todoke. But if you enjoyed Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu, or would like a more sexified version of Toradora! with a bunch of crazy fangirls, then go ahead. You'll enjoy this one. I know at least I did.

Overall Rating: 9.5 / 10.0

Credits for scans: Esthetique and NOIR

Full House Kiss Ch 24

The Chinese raws are here, as usual.

Mugi reflects over last night's confession while cooking in the kitchen, unable to believe what just happened. She randomly starts singing out of excitement when Iori shows up. He says that it's great that things worked out with Kazuya, and also adds while leaning closer, "I originally planned that if things didn't work out between you two, I'd steal you away myself..."

Just then Kazuya appears, arms crossed. "Iori," he says, and Iori backs off. Mugi tries to explain that nothing happened, but all Kazuya says is, "I know."

Mugi is just thinking how calm Kazuya seems, asking him what he's doing here, when Kazuya looks around before kissing her straight on the mouth. (Can I hear you say, kyaaa~?!)

Kazuya: I'm not calm at all. (Lol, so now he can suddenly read her thoughts? XD) I actually came here to check whether you're really mine or not.

(And I love how that fringe so cleverly disguises his blush, hahaha~)

Cue Sei saying, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" The two break apart hastily as Sei starts acting like a kid, circling around them asking the same thing over and over. Finally, he tells them that since they were so lost in their own little world, they didn't notice there was a phone call waiting for them. Turns out to be RBM (the journalist from before).

Apparently, Drug Guy is looking for a tape that Andou brought with him when he ran away. (How old is this manga?) He didn't know the contents of the tape, only that he was supposed to find it. The only thing they know for sure is that Andou's and Mugi's sister's disappearance is a key clue to this predicament.

I don't really get the next part to 100%, but apparently RBM can think of two more clues within the school. (I'm not sure if he's talking about clues or culprits, but it's key people regardless.) One, there are Andou's former friends in his gang (?), and secondly, there's his (high-class?) ex-girlfriend. Even though they know their way of communication, they can't reach them by phone (okay, this manga is old), and because they [the enemies] don't trust RBM, he can't get more information from them either. Because they don't know the enemy's power/strategy, they can't try to spy on their phone calls, because if they're find out, they'll surely be gotten rid of.

Mugi thinks back about her own death threat and thinks, "That's right... that's the kind of people our enemies are."

RBM wants them to cooperate so they can split up the work. He's going to do research on the ex-girlfriend and asks Mugi to take care of the board. Mugi seems surprised (what did she expect? @_@) but RBM tells her that since things are already like this, they need to hurry up and take action. Mugi starts getting nervous thinking about how much the enemies can have already accomplished when Kazuya takes her hand. "I'm coming too, so don't worry."

Mugi calms down at this, and Asaki, sitting some distance away looking at them, starts smiling. Just then Sei uses some weird cannon-like toy to shoot a mini toy soldier at Asaki's head, resulting in a playful fight. (Aww, I'm a sucker for bromance!)

Kazuya says they are to leave straight away. He has already gotten the tickets and that whatever they may need, they can buy there. He smiles/smirks at Mugi, "I already told you, regardless of what it is, I'll always help you. Who do you think I am [to you]?"

Mugi gets all shy and wants to say "my boyfriend", but ends up saying, "--You're Kazuya-kun."

Kazuya and Mugi arrive someplace which, according to whatever research Kazuya did, fits the description/map/whatever. Mugi mentions how it doesn't look like it'd be a building a gang would own. It's apparently a convenience store/video rental. The building used to be the gang's (I'm rather confused is they mean 'gang' or 'club', as this word is usually used for 'club', but it doesn't fit into the context, but we can also presume it can be referring to whatever Andou used to be in charge of). They're now looking for the landlord as it should presumably be the same person.

They talk with some random worker who used to know Andou. He didn't know the hardships Andou had been put through, as they rarely talked before, but now have lost contact completely. However, a year ago, Andou suddenly sent a video tape to him telling him "Please take care of this". He put the video tape in the storage room, but other workers have messed it up with other video tapes put there ever since, so it's now one huge mess. He knows for sure the tape is there though, as they never throw tapes away. All Kazuya and Mugi can do is start searching themselves.

Mugi gets all riled up about searching through the unlabeled video tapes and trips over herself, resulting in Kazuya calling her an idiot. At the end of the day, they have about 30 tapes they want to take home. Kazuya also wants to borrow some machine (assuming here they mean a VCR, but don't they have that already? ^^;). The night falls as they sleep over at a nearby inn, but have to share a room. Mugi freaks out as Kazuya tells her to go take a bath (also adding, "And properly wash your feet, too!", lol)

As she comes out of the bath, Kazuya tells her to give him her foot. Mugi starts blushing and freaking out (just how is "give me your foot" erotic, I ask you xD), but it turns out all Kazuya wanted to do was put a band-aid over the bruise she got from falling over in the video rental earlier. So he bends down to her foot with a soft (well, as soft as you can get from Kazuya, anyway) facial expression.

Kazuya: This inn's hot spring water is known for being soothing [to injuries]. Didn't you hear me say to wash your foot properly earlier?
Mugi: Ah... (becomes red in the face) Ahahahaha!
Kazuya: You probably thought of something weird, right? Idiot-- (flicks her forehead) Don't worry.

After that cute moment, they proceed to watch the movies for the rest of the night. Cue some really funny panels where Mugi cries to one movie and tries to imitate a boxer's pose to another. They're at the ninth movie when Kazuya says he wants to go to bed. That's when they suddenly see a tape of what looks like a man at an auction showing an audience a violin in its case. "Galnerius...?!" Mugi says. (It's the violin from earlier chapters that Sei pointed out was a fake, in case you don't remember.)

Kazuya points out you can clearly see the face of the seller, who turns out to be Sakuragi-sensei. He adds that Andou's disappearance would have meant they quieted down this occurence. The biggest possibility is that those guys from earlier [referring to Drug Guy etc] were the school board's own hired thugs. He calls RBM to share the news, leaving Mugi to ponder this on her own.

Mugi's thoughts: "These things... the auction of the lost Galnerius, Andou's and onee-chan's disappearance, and also, Shoukei High's connections...
The unknown (?) murders... the death cases... don't tell me... it was because of this that even mom and dad...?
And now I'm going against the same opponent..."

Kazuya glances at her tense poise over the shoulder, as Mugi thinks to herself: "But I have to do this..."

Kazuya suddenly turns off the lights and hugs Mugi from behind. He tells her to stop worrying and not to be afraid. He's here, so he'll protect her. Once again, Mugi calms down. She asks him when he started liking her.

Kazuya: "...I probably already started liking you from the very first beginning.
Meeting you, and getting to know you, only made my interest in you grow. And living with you resulted in me liking you more and more.
I always watched you [as in taking notice of her], regardless if you were laughing or crying.
I wanted to help you, hoping you'd lean on me, because I really [the last part is blurred T.T].
When you were sad, I was very happy to be the one by your side..."

Mugi thinks about how she's so happy that she can cry, and that this probably is what it means to really love someone. She can finally understand the feelings of her sister, the smile she had on the photo with Andou... what it means to not only be by yourself anymore...

"I... --Kazuya-kun, I like you," she says again, and they kiss as she thinks about how happy she is that she fell in love with Kazuya.

Cut to morning when they leave. Kazuya calls her name and Mugi answers, "Yeah." She thinks how she doesn't need to be afraid anymore and how Shoukei High holds the key [to this mystery].

- CHAPTER 24 END -

Full House Kiss Ch 23

You can read the Chinese raws here.

The chapter begins with Mugi's narration: "A heart that can't stop beating--I can hear the sound of Kazuya-kun's heartbeats, or maybe they are mine, beating very fast. But... this kind of heartbeat... is a heartbeat of relief..."

Kazuya: .....

Kazuya's hand starts getting off Mugi's back.

Mugi: ---....Kazuya-kun, I... I... ah! (Thinking: Why...) That is... (Even though I'm already relieved, my heart can't seem to stop beating...?)
Kazuya: Suzuhara...?

Sei and Asaki are still looking for Mugi when Sei sees Kazuya and Mugi from afar, looking like a pair of lovers as they gaze at each other. He glances over his shoulder at Asaki and then suddenly exclaims, "Hanekura! I hear voices from over there!" (He points in the opposite direction) "Don't look over here, it's over there!" (Finally I get some bromance n__n)

As Asaki frantically demands where and starts fighting with Sei, Mugi and Kazuya overhear their argument and Mugi pushes him away with an apology. She runs back to the guys as Kazuya is left behind, staring at his hand that just held her. As the three reunite, Asaki glances at Kazuya in the distance getting off the ground.

The others tell Mugi the culprit has been caught. But she wants to interrogate him about her sister before he's handed into the police. Asaki comments how journalists are good at that stuff, cue appearance of a random bearded guy. RBM (Random Bearded Guy) apparently looked up to Andou or something along those lines.

Drug Guy* refuses to say anything about Andou, and RBM pulls his hair. Just then, the school intercom asks Mugi and La Prince to show up. The journalist tells them to return and says he'll definitely find out about Mugi's sister's and Andou's matters, and that he'll get in touch with her when he does so.

After they leave, RBM promises not to hand Drug Guy over to the police if he tells him about Andou and Mugi's sister. And that he'll get that information out of him anyway, no matter what methods he needs to use!

Cue La Prince showing up at school and told to hurry up the preparations. Some megane freshman explains to Mugi that at the eve of every year's school festival, the four members of La Prince picked by the student body will be announced. The four of them have been La Prince ever since they were freshmen themselves. Then Kazuya enters the stage.

You can read the rest of the chapter summary done by elove53 at MF here ^^

* = My personal name for the guy who drugged that girl at the club, and also the one who kidnapped Mugi in the last chapter.

Spoiler Summaries

Full House Kiss
Ch 22
Ch 23
Ch 24

Full House Kiss Ch 22

Read the Chinese raws here.

The chapter begins with Mugi reflecting on what has happened. It's the day of the school festival. Asaki drops by and at first, they act awkward around each other, but he offers to take her around the school festival. She objects at first, saying she's a teacher, but he tells her to enjoy herself since she's younger than him, and that she should just see it as accompanying him. She agrees and thanks him.

Cut to scene with Iori and Sei. Iori thinks of Kazuya and says, "...That's why I told you to act upon it earlier", then Sei appears. Iori tells him that if he's looking for Mugi, she's walking around with Asaki. Sei explains that that is why he is here, to waste time because if he does something now, she'll feel messed up and torn between them, and that is just too pitiful. Iori warns him that he might just be bidding his time himself. Then Iori treats him to some flavored tea and Sei wonders to himself why they [Mugi and Asaki] can't hurry and finish up already.

Meanwhile, there's an awkward silence between Mugi and Asaki as they walk around. Suddenly, a random girl faints due to a too (bright? good-looking? Something along those lines, anyway) guy. They turn around and find Kazuya being the host for an old lady in their host club-themed classroom. Mugi and Asaki exclaim, "Kazuya-kun?! / Midou?!" at the same time and thus, draw attention to themselves. Kazuya sees them and there's a tense atmosphere as Asaki tells Mugi they should go elsewhere.

However, a classmate of Asaki's appears at that time and drags him back to his own classroom as they need to prepare themselves. Kazuya excuses himself from his customer and asks Mugi if he can see her for a minute. (With Mugi saying, "Ah, does Midou-san have something to discuss with me?")

The two of them go elsewhere and start fighting. Kazuya scolds her for being too careless and going on a date in the middle of the school with a student, saying her cover will be blown. Mugi says they were just walking around and thinks to herself how it has happened before, but Kazuya is suddenly making such a big deal out of it. Then Kazuya goes ahead to badmouth Asaki about being so careless as well, and Mugi becomes mad, saying he did nothing wrong. She then retorts that Kazuya did the same with an old lady just now, and Kazuya says that that was just because they asked him to do that and he had no other option.

Then Mugi starts yelling about how he shouldn't say things like that when Asaki was just seeing things from her point of view and trying to make her feel better (or something like that), and Kazuya, angry (and jeaaalousss xD) retorts, "Of course I don't understand you! All you ever do is mess around!" [As in 'acting impulsively without thinking', not 'mess around with guys']

Then this dialogue happens (man, I love when Mugi is raging xD):

Mugi: --What's that supposed to mean... your point is, as long as I only do things you say, it'll all be fine?!
Kazuya: ...!! That's right, then things don't have to be so tiring for me!
Mugi: Why do you have to act so high and mighty?! I don't care about you anymore! Kazuya-kun is a big idiot!! (throws some random statue at his head)

Kazuya ducks and says something like, "Do you intend to kill me?!" (Lol, he reminded me of Kyouhei from Perfect Girl Evolution for a minute there)

Mugi runs away, crying, and berating Kazuya in her head for not understanding her and acting that way. She then goes ahead to glomp Shirotama (one of the doves) and starts whining about Kazuya. She suddenly overhears somebody saying, "That is just going too far! It's not like you say at all!!"

Two guys are fighting. One of them mentions he was just following orders, whereas the other one is upset since he said that his father wouldn't lend them money if he hurt their little sister and how his mother was already ill. The other guy retorts something about him being stupid.

Mugi suddenly realizes it was the guy from the fire accident who drugged her sister's acquaintance and how he was probably connected to her sister. She wonders what he's doing here when he isn't even a student of this school, and how this is bad since he probably plans to do something dangerous [as he's a dangerous person]. She tries to escape to tell somebody, but he stops her and says, "You really know how to interfere, sen...sei!"

He kicks her down when Sakuragi-sensei appears. She asks him what he plans to do about her. He retorts that he's following orders from somebody more higher-ranked than Sakuragi-san [referring to sensei's father, the director of the school board]. He says that this is a good chance of getting rid of Mugi and says (in a mocking manner), "Sorry to disturb you." Sakuragi-sensei looks troubled, cut to Asaki sitting in his classroom seeing the guy carrying away Mugi. One of his classmates remarks how it's weird that Mugi is not picking up her phone, and Asaki rushes out to where he saw Mugi being carried off. Then Sei looks out of a window and says, "Hanekura--? What's the matter?"

Kazuya is thinking about how Mugi yelled at him and keeps muttering responses to what she said to himself (I really lol'ed at this part xD) when Iori appears and calls him out. The others tell him that Mugi was kidnapped, and Asaki mentions that she was unconscious. Sei tells them the phone calls can't get through, and Kazuya mentions how she wouldn't turn off her phone, nor is there an area in school where you can't get a signal. The phone emits an automated message of how they can't connect to the user.

Meanwhile, we see a foot standing on Mugi's broken cell phone. Mugi is unconscious when the guy from before wakes her up. He introduces himself as the ex-boyfriend of the girl whom he drugged (I don't know his Japanese name, so I'll just call him Drug Guy). Drug Guy says that he originally wanted to resolve things in a calmer manner, but sensei [Mugi] just appeared at a really bad time.

Mugi demands to know his motives. Drug Guy simply answers teasingly that he has many. He hates the students of Shoukei High, but since their parents contribute to his superiors, he has to protect their safety. He also has to entertain (?) them as well. Mugi asks whether or not Kujou [the troublemaker guy] is his partner, and he replies, "Kujou? Of course that moron doesn't have anything to do with me!"

Drug Guy goes on saying, "He and Andou Masashi -- you know Andou Masashi, right? The one who used to lead that gang (?), due to him going missing, my superiors made Kujou his replacement."

Mugi wants to know who his superiors are. He says that it's people who have connections with his school. Before Mugi can ask anything more, he says he's tired of explaining anyway, since she's going to die. (WTF?) He's going to return later to see how he should go about it. After he leaves, Mugi freaks out about being murdered and how she hasn't found her sister or solved the mystery behind her parents' death yet. And how there's so much left she hasn't done yet, like given Asaki her reply to his confession. And how she said some really mean things to Kazuya...

She thinks how she's never going to see Kazuya again and starts crying, when she suddenly bursts out; "--Simply crying--isn't going to make anything better, is it?!" (I have to admit it, she's pretty kickass ^^)

Mugi tries to figure where she is and how to get out, as the only exit is locked. While throwing herself at the door, Mugi thinks about how she needs to apologize to Kazuya.

The guys are still searching for Mugi as the school intercom calls for her name. Then a girl appears and says she saw Mugi two hours ago, and how she looked like she cried. "It can't have been too long after she left me, then," Kazuya figures, and looks distressed as he mutters, "Dammit..."

Cue Mugi frenetically kicking at the door, to no avail. She's still thinking about apologizing, when she remembers Kazuya's words and becomes mad again. It strengthens her resolve to get out. Suddenly, there's a blackout. A dark-haired woman throws an eye-bind over her eyes and tells her to calm down, she's going to get out of there. (Most likely Sakuragi-sensei, I presume...)

Asaki and Kazuya start fighting as Asaki yells at him for not being worried. "Of course I'm worried about her," Kazuya retorts coolly, when Director Sakuragi shows up. The boys explain that they're looking for Mugi [as Suzuhara-sensei], and he says he just saw her at the back door and how she probably still is there.

Meanwhile, Mugi is led out by the dark-haired woman in complete silence. She asks her to take off the eye-bind, and the dark-haired woman agrees to doing so in return for her not looking behind for five seconds after taking it off, and for pretending that this never happened.

Mugi realizes she's on top of a roof, when Kazuya discovers her. She asks him to catch her, then jumps down. Drug Guy is standing nearby a church, talking to his superior over the phone who tells him that Mugi most likely have escaped and how he has disappointed them. Maddened, he says he's going to bring her back at once, but they tell him not to. Swearing, he punches the wall in frustration.

Just then a dove attacks him and a light-haired guy in a yukata appears from nowhere. Asaki and Sei confront him, and as the light-haired guy disappears again, they realize they didn't know who it was. Eijirou shows up to say that Mugi is fine and Midou found her just a while ago. Asaki reacts with a shocked face expression.

Cut to Mugi sitting on Kazuya's lap after jumping down.

Kazuya: You really... constantly fall down, huh.
Mugi: I thought you would be used to it by now.
Kazuya: You... (sweatdrop) But this whole messing around [acting impulsively] of yours, could also be seen as your good point.
You should stay the way you are.
Thank God nothing happened to you.
Mugi: (thinking: Kazuya-kun really came looking for me...)

Mugi starts crying.

Kazuya: Suzuhara?
Mugi: I'm sorry.. it seems as soon as I became relieved, I... (thinking to herself: Because I was so angry, I originally planned to scold him as soon as I saw him, but this relieved body of mine, started crying out of habit.
I really wanted Kazuya-kun to save me.)

As they embrace, she thinks: "I really hoped he would save me..."

- CHAPTER 22 END -

Full House Kiss

Status: Ongoing

Orphaned, broke and living in a house of bishies as their live-in maid. Fruits Basket sans its curse, anyone?

And at first, Full House Kiss may seem that way. Its main character, Suzuhara Mugi, resembles Tohru close enough: kind-hearted, hard-working and strong. Except that Tohru had no living family yet, but Mugi still has her sister, who went missing prior to her parents' death, and the reason why she wants to enter Shoukei High so badly -- the only connection she has left with her.

But then the plotline takes an 180 degree turn and we're left staring blankly at the page as Mugi is announced as Shoukei High's new art teacher, a favor done by the leader of La Prince (aka the House of Bishies) in exchange for her becoming their maid.

Stop there for a second, and take this into account before we continue: Mugi is 15 years old and has never attended high school.

...Yeah. WTF-plot-twist indeed.

Art - 3.6 / 10.0
I've never liked the 90s style of manga drawing. Sure, there's always the touch of nostalgia, but you rarely see me squealing over it the way I do about modern, post-CG art. The female leads haven't changed much over time, but the bishies from the 90's either look like girls with short hair or cardboard paper versions of Barbie's Ken. And the latter is exactly what the guys in Full House Kiss look like: flat and out of fashion. I can't say I like that style much; S.L.H or Barajou no Kiss is more down my alley.




Plot/Concept - 9.0 / 10.0
I have to give kudos to the mangaka for her plot, because if there's anything that keeps me reading, it sure is that. Per classical shoujo, there are several plotholes -- like that whole teacher-thing, and also, (SPOILER!) it's just weird that nobody has discovered she lives with the bishies yet except that one journalist. If La Prince really does have such a huge fangirl base, you'd think they'd at least stalk outside their residence like normal fangirls, if there ever are any such. (END SPOILER) But all in all, the plot moves forward in a really interesting way and you never really know what's going to happen.

Characters - 8.8 / 10.0
I love how the characters are shaped in a way that they fulfill their stereotypes but still break their molds; it makes the story refreshing and new, despite the age-old scenario of innocent-girl-lives-with-a-handful-of-bishies. The main girl is like a carbon copy of Tohru from Fruits Basket, but I had never had a problem with Tohru, so that's fine.

However, despite the fact that I do like this manga's cast, I can't help but feel that there's something missing. Maybe it's the interactions between the cast itself -- even though the whole best friends/brothers competing over the same girl cliché is getting old, I can't help but feel a tinge of disappointment at the lack of bromance. (I'm a sucker for that -- there's a reason why I keep reading Naruto, and it's not because of the lame hark-the-next-Hokage jutsus.)

Also, the characters don't really seem to go through any significant development. Then again, we're only 21 chapters into the story, so that might change. Regardless, I can't feel anything for the characters just yet, and as a result, I feel very little for the story as well.


Romance - 8.1 / 10.0
I've been complaining about the lack of doki-doki action in some popular shoujo manga as of late, but at least here, Full House Kiss doesn't disappoint. The moments are, more than often, unexpected and perfectly timed, as opposed to the clumsy and highly predictable way they usually occur in normal shoujo. The romance develops at a normal pace and there's no sudden spur-of-the-moment love as it is in even one of my favorites, Reimei no Arcana. Nor is it torturously slow like Perfect Girl Evolution, leading you to question whether or not it really is a romance shoujo.

Sadly, due to my lack of being able to sympathize with the characters nor particularly liking the art, the romance scores lower than it should have had the circumstances been otherwise. Also, I can't seem to find a character I want to root for, since I feel equally detached to each one of them.

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I like this manga, regardless of what impression I might have given you during its review. But as with its cast, there's just something missing. I hope that that something will be replenished in chapters soon to come, or I'll lose the interest I have. As of right now, all I have is the same clinical curiosity of wanting to know what's going to happen next the way it is for me and Five.

Overall Rating: 7.9 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Aerandria

3 Years

Status: Finished

At first sight, Asaki China is like any other manga heroine you've ever known: a loudmouth tomboy enrolling into high school, living the Shoujo Dream: what else but fall in love, yadda yadda. But of course, as she is more reminiscent of a monkey guy than she is of a girl, her chances of getting that love is close to nil. Until she meets her new classmates, the class clown Haruka and the intimidating giant Shindou anyway...

Bored already? Don't worry, so was I. But there is a reason this short story on four chapters made me bawl a river in my room, and it isn't because of the ugly art.

Art - 0.2 /10.0
Whatever praise you're expecting me to say about this manga, it doesn't extend to the art style. My first impression was that China looked like a pig, and the two male protagonists a bear and a weasel. And I don't know about you, but bestiality isn't really my thing. Either way, I sucked it up and kept reading. And that's when we get to the good part...

Plot/Concept - 9.7 / 10.0
I love, love, LOVE the simplicity of 3 Years. I can tell you what it isn't: it isn't a intricate plot with some innovative, imagination-rocking idea; it isn't a rollercoaster drama where you keep holding your breath all the way. It isn't even original, or unique, and maybe that's what makes it so goddamn special. This story is as real as it can get when the main characters all look like animals, and anybody can relate to it. This is a story about growth, and regardless of if we've already been there or are on our way there, we still know what the mangaka is trying to tell us. And the message, in stark contrast to the way it is drawn, is hauntingly beautiful.

Characters - 9.5 / 10.0
Okay, none of the guys had me squealing, and I didn't cheer the heroine on as if she was my best friend. But these characters are stunningly realistic, and that's what makes you like them. They're not gorgeous or even remotely close to being perfect in any way, but they're people, not just characters on paper. You either are one of them or could have been. You might even know somebody just like them. Regardless, they're not your stereotypical shoujo characters -- they're actually real.

Romance - 9.8 / 10.0
I clicked, I saw, I cried. No, really. I usually don't sit around sniffling my way through mangas, but this one had me in tears with only four chapters worth of pages, to boot. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll tell you: just read it. You won't regret it.

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This is one of my all-time favorite manga, even despite how ugly it is. I love coming-of-age stories, but this one is definitely the cherry on top of all the coming-of-age manga I've ever read. It may not be for anyone, because it's rather serious and brutally honest: it's not your usual ditzy shoujo. But if you're ever in a mood for a story that actually speaks to you, this one is going to break your heart. That I can swear.

Overall Rating: 9.8 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Perfect Illusions

Strobe Edge

Status: Finished

Already in the first pages of the manga, we’re given a sneak-peek of our heroine Ninako: naïve, kind-hearted and, all in all, a complete moron. The guy? Try to hide your shock when you find out he’s the most popular boy of the school, few-worded and stoic. (And with an awesome name to match: Ren.)

We’re introduced to the happy-go-lucky childhood best friend who harbors a crush on the heroine within minutes, and the plot was as predictable it could get; girl has zero experience, meets beatific boy waaaay out of her league, falls in love, oh-no-what-to-do-now-fretting ensues.

With my experience in shoujo manga, I thought I had it all figured out, that I knew every nook and turn the plot would take. (Unless it spun way off-track and became some hybrid of B.O.D.Y., where obviously everything is possible.)

... Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Art – 6.1 / 10.0
It’s bordering on almost-ugly. Not really my kind of style, and a bit too sparkly for my liking. It’s only excusable because Ren is so freaking adorable. Every time I see him in a panel, I wish I could reach into it to pinch his cheeks. Yeah, that’s how cute he is.

Plot/Concept – 8.4 / 10.0
Now here’s where the bombshell drops. A few chapters in on the manga, everything I predicted steered off-course. Sure, the drama factor was still a bit too high, but it was acceptable for a shoujo. Most of the events kept a natural course, rather than odd plot twists thrown in just to keep readers engaged. But what really stood out about this manga was its…

Characters – 9.0 / 10.0
Ninako annoyed me in the beginning, yes. With her cutesy, brainless personality and my-world-centers-around-my-crush ideal, I was pretty sure I’d keep feeling that way about her. But surprisingly, despite the flaws in her character, I found that she grew on me. Or maybe it was an effect of it all—that she was so perfectly human but still likeable. The same could be applied to Ren; he wasn’t shut off or cold, just simply rational and a bit less keen on expressing what he feels. Both characters are genuine, honest people, and maybe that’s what attracts me to them; in either case, I found myself growing increasingly more fond of them during the span of the series.

The other characters, albeit not winning any major bonus points like the protagonists, were also pretty well-rounded. I was torn between wanting to throttle the second guy or giving him a hug. Most of them seemed to severely lack in communication with each other, but I guess it’s all pretty acceptable considering how this is, after all, set in high school.

Romance – 8.7 / 10.0
Obviously, the romance also got a high rating as a result of this. The development was realistic and plausible; albeit Ninako’s feelings were terribly rushed in the beginning, it is shown that she gains increasing understanding of Ren’s character, and she therefore falls deeper for him, and vice versa.

I felt really bad for (SPOILER!)Ren’s girlfriend, but I’m not here to judge morale; things like these happen in real life, too, especially when you’re a teenager. It’s not like he didn’t try fighting against it. Actually, I find his struggling quite admirable. He really looked out for his girlfriend, even in the end when he knew he didn’t feel that way about her anymore. He still cared and respected her enough not to do anything with Ninako, which is more than you can say about most shoujo characters.(END SPOILER)

Ren and Ninako had an amazing chemistry and as a couple, they worked beautifully together. Rather than some pairings that I’ve seriously questioned if they lasted after their happy ending, I can definitely tell the two of them would proceed perfectly fine with each other even beyond our final impressions of them after the end.

Overall Rating – 9.0 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Houkago Scanlations and Bikkuri