Love So Life

Status: Ongoing

With a premise not too different from Aishiteruze Baby, we’re introduced to two adorable chibi twins whose father unceremoniously dumped his children to his workaholic younger brother. Said brother, a popular bishie TV announcer, doesn’t know how to act as Papa Bear take care of children at the age of 25, so he seeks the help of high school student and trained Mama Bear daycare worker Shiharu to babysit them.

Art – 8.8 / 10.0
The art is quite exquisite in this one. While the heroine is your average dish of shoujo cuteness, the male protagonist is drawn in a more josei-like way (unlike a lot of other manga, who prefer their males to look like they’re permanently stuck at sixteen regardless of their true age).

And the twins... it’s like sugar overload. They’re so cute I spend every chapter squealing over them. The scenery is drawn quite well, too—and I like the lack of glitter, sparkles and flowers in the panels that express moments between the couple. It’s expressed in a simple and quite natural way, thus coming off as far more realistic.

Plot/Concept – 7.0 / 10.0
I find the plot refreshing and sweet, though I wish they could stop enunciating how Shiharu is an orphan, how her dream is to run a daycare center, and how much she misses her mother in every single chapter. It’s also moving a bit slow; there’re a lot of fillers that don’t really serve any purpose to move the plot itself forward. You can also find a few plotholes that don’t really make sense, like why no guys in Shiharu’s class has made a move despite all of them seeming to crush on her, or why (SPOILER! Highlight to see) Shiharu’s childhood best friend didn’t give her any White Day presents despite having crushed on her for eight years. (END SPOILER)

Characters – 7.2 / 10.0
I love most characters in the story, but I really wish Shiharu was less of a Mary-Sue. She reminds me of a more polished, perfected version of Tohru in Fruits Basket; she’s popular, well-liked, unbelievably kind, good-looking, smart, obedient, responsible, brave, insert any other positive adjective you can think of here... it’s almost bordering on ridiculous. Seiji, the male, is also a bit of a Gary-Stu. While that makes both of the characters quite lovable, it also makes them come off as unrealistic.

Romance – 7.8 / 10.0
While I give it a definite plus for not being too fast, the story is moving ahead at a tremendously slow pace. If there at least was some other reason why it does so—like Sawako’s character development in Kimi ni Todoke—that would’ve been fine. But the mangaka seems perfectly content throwing in filler after filler serving no greater purpose than to show how flawless Shiharu is, how much she fits into their family, how much she loves her deceased mother and the twins. The few moments that brings the story forward are more-than-squeal-worthy, perhaps as an effect of all the dragging, but at least it keeps me reading. I like how the romance is kept realistic at least, even if it is at the cost of countless fillers. (But at least we get to see the super-moe twins, so whatever.)

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The story is the epitome of kawaii-ness, the kind that will leave a smile on any family manga fan’s face. Despite its raving reviews because of this, the lack of plot and character development leaves some threads hanging loosely in my appreciation of this series. I’ll definitely keep reading—I’m quite interested in how the romance will develop, and I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end—but for now, I remain to be swept off my feet by this manga.

(...And like with most shoujo manga, I’m completely confused by the title. What’s up with that ‘so’? Do they mean “love, so live”? Or “I love such a life”? The mysteries of this world of moe remain to be solved...)

Overall Rating – 7.8 / 10.0

Credits for scans: Which Scanlations