Rockin' Heaven

Status: Finished

Three words: So. Freaking. Good.

You’re probably waiting for some epic plot to unfold here. Some legasp-double-rainbow-oh-my-god setup, or some freaky plot twists that got us all otaku swooning, maybe. Sorry to disappoint, but the plot is as common as any: girl applies for a former all-boys high school, gets bullied and teased, falls for the leader of the bullies.

Surprisingly, Sawa (the main character) is not a boy-hater, crossdresser or one of the countless shoujo heroines that seem to go to school for the sake of falling The Bishie of Her Dreams. And perhaps even more so that I don’t hate any of the characters involved, including the guy. Now we can all ask ourselves the question: what does this mean? (And no, not a double rainbow, regardless of whatever the cover may suggest.)

Art – 8.9/ 10.0
Cute and bubbly, which is the reason why I chose it. After Five, I really needed some guys that didn’t have snouts for noses, so I opted for this manga specifically for its cover. Definitely not going to disappoint: Ran (the male lead) is hawt. And thumbs-up for the brilliant depiction of facial expressions; I like how the mangaka steps out of the stereotypical frame for a cold guy and really gets across all the little things in what can easily be perceived as a poker face. Minus points for the colored chapter covers; what’s up with all the purple hair?

Plot/Concept – 6.9 / 10.0
If there’s anything that’s slightly disappointing about this manga, it’s the plot. It’s pretty predictable, and I found the final plot twist a little bit rushed. (And some minor details a bit disappointing (SPOILER!), like Tsubaki randomly going straight in the end of the story, as if his feelings for Ran meant nothing. I thought it was rather disappointing how the mangaka just disregarded his sexuality like that, as if having a gay character didn’t fit into a happy ending.) (END SPOILER) But like some reviewer said at Baka-Updates, at least the leads didn’t kiss in the first chapter. The romance develops quite naturally.

Characters – 9.6 / 10.0
You know what? I don’t give a damn if some people think Sawa is a Mary-Sue or Ran is a jerk. If you look a bit closer, you can perfectly see Sawa’s flaws, or that Ran is not half as much of an emo!tard as he seems. The mangaka shows this to us in the little dialogues or Sawa’s thoughts. This proves that there can be a strong heroine who can still be emotional; a cold, angst-ridden guy who may think of himself but isn’t hopelessly self-absorbed. The story centers a lot on character development, and that is pulled off in a splendid way. I loved every single character to bits, even the minor ones.

Romance – 9.1 / 10.0
This factor is made out of two other factors: plot and characters. You already know what I think about both. The thing is, the plot damages the romance somewhat, since you know what’s going to happen. But what really gives this romance such a high score is due to the characters. Of course, there were times when I wanted to scream at Ran—there’s only so much angsting you can take—but all in all, you could understand them. It somehow turned this story from just another fluffy high school shoujo to a more down-to-earth, realistic love story. The feelings and the actions of the characters.

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As humiliating as it is to admit it, I actually cried to this. I sat at my computer at the crack of the dawn, even going as far as to hunting down the scanlation group and downloading the chapters that hadn’t been uploaded to Mangareader.net, just to finish it. And if that doesn’t convince you, just try it. And if you didn’t like it, too bad; you just missed out on enjoying one of the best shoujo out there you can find.

Overall Rating – 9.5 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Shoujo Manga Maniac