Suki Desu Suzuki-kun!!

Status: Ongoing

Chibi love. It’s like everything else that is sweet and sugary presented to you in real life: either you ate it or hate it.

Suki Desu Suzuki-kun!! is that kind of a story. We’re introduced to Hoshino Sayaka, the shy megane girl with supreme acting skills, and Itou Chihiro, the popular and beautiful girl-next-door. And oh, of course, our protagonists—Suzuki Hikaru (to the right) and Suzuki Shinobu (to the left). Members of the school basketball team and as different as day and night.

...Quadruple drama, here we come!

Art – 7.2 / 10.0
Okay, I’ll be honest. I like cute things, but not chibi art. It’s fine in comedy shoujo moments. It’s adorable in shounen ones. But an entire story based on it... I don’t know. There’s the reason I put down Shugo Chara four chapters in.

The one thing that keeps me reading is how it’s obvious the story will not only revolve around their middle school days. Right from the get-go, we’re told that this is a blast to the past, rather than the story itself. In a style reminiscent of Cat Street, we’re promised some major character development (guess who was squealing about that?) and there in itself an art style change due to their aging (as you can see on the cover depicted above).

Plot/Concept – 9.6 / 10.0
What I think is really unique about this series is how we’re actually shown continuous progress over the years and how time changes people rather than it being an element necessary to move the plot forward. Without the use of time skips or hints of the past, we’re being actively told about their realistic development all the while we’re promised a plot twist. I think the storytelling in itself is pretty amazing in the way that we don’t get bored of reading, despite the fact that we know it’s just part of building the foundation for the actual plot. It’s a lot of fluff, true, but even despite its chibi art, the characters’ emotions become palpable and surprisingly real.

What I do find annoying, though, is how they tell us the ending pairing right from the get-go, there-in reassuring us of a happy ending. While most stories remain obvious with their endings, the promise of an alternate or open ending is always fuel for the fans. The tiny, last detail out of that chapter that blew open that veil of mystery entirely was completely unnecessary, in my opinion. Regardless, my interest is piqued.

Characters – 8.8 / 10.0
The two Suzuki-kuns and their respective crush are all special in their own way. Their personalities are refreshing but stereotypical, so it’ll be interesting to see how they develop; so far, they’re just cute, the whole bunch of them. This leaves us hanging in whether they will become more annoying further one post-plot twist, or if they’ll mature. With such focus on the coming-of-age aspect of this story, I’m hoping it’s the latter rather than the former.

Romance – 7.5 / 10.0
If ‘aww’-ing your brains out is your kind of thing, this romance is made for you. This early into the manga, it’s still too cute for me to be able to relate to it, albeit that in itself doesn’t have to be a bad thing. But you can tell things are going to grow more intense further on as the romance develops, and that is why I keep such a high score despite its clichéness—this type of romance is quite rare in the shoujo world. Rather than throwing in a bunch of random plot twists to progress the plot forward simply to give space to doki-doki moments, we’re shown how a relationship grows throughout the process of puberty. With the pending plot twist looming over our heads, it seems to be the perfect recipe for delicious drama.

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I have high expectations of this manga, and so far, it has yet to disappoint me. There’s definitely potential, and I’m more than willing to explore that potential. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for more development.

Overall Rating – 9.0 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Shoujo World and Starlight Scans

Crash!

Status: Finished (Ongoing for eng scanlations)

I finished rereading the scanlated chapters for the second time in a row just minutes ago, and I’m still squealing like a fangirl on drugs. Or, wait, I am a fangirl on drugs. Or just one drug really, namely Crash!

(That expression mark just really fits in everywhere, huh?)

So what is this fangasm-worthy manga about? Well, let me introduce to you five—yes, five, as in Five five kind of five (try to say that sentence really fast)—gorgeous, fantastic bishies. That wear really gorgeous, fantastic clothing.

...Oh, you mean the plot? Sorry. Not that Crash! has a bad plot, or anything—the heroine, Hana, is the daughter of the owners of White Star Agency. She has this strange ability to nosebleed whenever she sees somebody who’s going to succeed in showbiz—and ever since, she has been obsessed with the idea of “creating idols”. When she sees those five gathered together by accident, she makes up her mind: she’s going to hunt them down and make them into idols!

I’m not going to whine about the plot, because this blog entry is about a shoujo, and God knows shoujo plots make about as much sense as Dumbledore’s jokes. So with no further ado, let me proceed with the highlight of the day, namely the...

Art – 20.0 / 10.0
Yeah, that’s right. Crash! has such fantastic art it can even surpass my limits of perfection.

You know, most of the time, you see me squealing about one or two guys in a manga. Like Kurosaki in Dengeki Daisy; Zero in Vampire Knight; Kazuhaya in Kimi no Todoke, and so forth. All other bishies—even in harems with such mind-blowing art like Barajou no Kiss—come with some sort of a turn-off switch. Like how Tenjoh-sempai in the last-mentioned manga looks way too gaudy to be a bishie (which I guess is sort of the point, but still); Shiran-kun looks like a 10-year-old and Mutsuki is...

Yeah, Mutsuki is awesome... *____*

Ahem. Anyhow...

My point is, there is always something that makes nosebleed-bishies into not-so-nosebleed-bishies. Like little quirks, manners of speech, or just their general personality.

And guess what the best part of Crash! is?

ALL THE BISHIES REMAIN BISHIES.

I’m serious. From the beginning to the end, I love every single guy, from the bad boy moron to the sexy flirt. Because even with all their stupidity sometimes, they’re genuinely good guys. And best of all, they could totally be real. But that almost leads me to the next point, which is...

Plot/Concept – 5.5 / 10.0
I have to say... I’m pretty disappointed by the plot. This story had so much potential. (I finished reading the Chinese raws too, by the way, so I know how it ends.) I’m not going to give any spoilers, but I saw fantastic depth in these characters. Depth that could’ve been explored, toyed with, developed.

Even with its childish beginning and quite unlikely plot twists, there was something unique about this series. I could tell this mangaka wasn’t half the moron most of her colleagues are. Yet... why were we left with such an abrupt, rushed ending? I don’t find myself half as bothered by how it actually ended as the fact that it ended. I don’t mean that it should extend into some Shounen Jump-esque epicstory of boredom where every panel consists of some ZeAngst!ing, but

I had this notion that if the mangaka had actually bothered to put more energy into it, this could’ve been on par with Cat Street.

Characters – 9.7 / 10.0
Which isn’t so goddamn strange, when you think about it. Because this series has some real kickass characters.

I’m not saying they’re perfect. They’re definitely not. Right from the get-go, we have that two-dimensional cut per idol style: Kiri, the bad boy; Rei, the cold rich kid; Yugo, the seductive ladies’ man; Kazuhiko, the cute chibi; Junpei, the cheery monkey... the strong-willed, ambitious heroine, Hana.

But if you look beyond the surface, you start to see the cracks that lead us deeper into the character. And we start to see signs of character development. Then there are the little quirks that make the characters different from all others I’ve seen so far—Rei’s strange habits of performing magic tricks or acts of superstition, for instance. Then there are the main characters themselves, Kiri and Hana.

I have to compliment the mangaka on creating them. Both Kiri and Hana exude a kind of strength unparalleled by any other shoujo characters I’ve seen thus far. That because their strength is completely unique in its form. Kiri is genuine—he’s not just crude and honest genuine, like most bad boy protagonists, but he’s genuine all the way through. He doesn’t just put up a strong façade to start emo:ing in a corner later. Then there’s Hana, who really gives her everything for the guys as a team, not because she’s driven by The Powers of Lub-lub. If that doesn’t make her amazing, I don’t know what does.

And Junpei. So freaking sweet. I love him to bits. He’s like sunshine personified.

I just get so pissed. Because if this mangaka had just put a little bit more effort, a little bit more time, and a little bit more feeling into this manga, this could’ve been more than just srs bz.

It could have been epic. All the characters are shaped in such a way that the development would’ve brought them springing forward and growing beyond belief. But yeah. Character development is still kept at a minimum until the very ay that the development would’ve brought them springing forward and growing beyond belief. But yeah. Character development is still kept at a minimum until the very end. So I demand a sequel. And not the lameass one that is currently being scheduled, either.

Romance – 1.0 / 10.0
And once again, I’m pissed.

Let’s just say—this shoujo isn’t really meant for romance per se. I’ll not say it doesn’t contain any romance at all, because it does. But its main purpose is not to tell us a love story. It’s to tell us a story about five gorgeous bishies becoming idols and a fantastic girl helping them do so. It’s trying to make us feel light-hearted and bubbly, like sponge cake on the inside topped with whipped cream, not doki-doki-I’m-about-to-die moments of epic love. If you want that, this story is not for you.

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At the end of the day, I don’t regret reading it. In fact, my rereading it should tell you what I think about it. I still recommend it. The story is interesting, the characters are beyond just fascinating, and the art is... well. I’m squealing again. I don’t think I need to say more. I’m sure I’ll reread this again—and again—because I still can’t forget that “what-if”. These characters are brilliant. I don’t want to give them up just yet, even if their creator did. Nah, I’m gonna show them that lub-lub they missed out on during all their drool-worthy scenes of bishieness.

...Anybody care for some fanfiction?

Overall Rating – 9.0 / 10.0

Credits for the scans: Ham Ham Scans and Herp Derp Scans