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