Manga Match 77 Nakanmon!

This was honestly a wild ride. If you're looking for a bildungsroman about a girl recovering from a tragedy and her interactions with a sharp-tongued but soft-hearted boy and a few others that she encounters as she moves to Tokyo...that's a really specific thing you're looking for. But you're in luck! That's exactly what this manga is.

{Spoilers, but it's a pretty soft shoujo so you should be fine}

Usually when the protagonist of a shoujo is a weepy eyed girl I get annoyed and would just flame the manga. But I think in this case I could really sympathize with why she was so sad all the time. I'm sure if my sisters were super sick and suddenly passed away I would also be ready to cry at any time. So I'll give her a pass this time. And besides her justified emotional instability, a lot of interesting things happen and are explored in this manga.

For example, in a lot of gender bender manga and such (or I guess this trope could come up in any genre) there's a guy that's prettier than most girls in it. And he usually has a complex about his looks. That would be Ichihara. He definitely starts out as a playboy and someone that you can't really trust for a serious relationship, but is there if you're just looking for a fun time or whatever. And his interaction with Tsukasa as his plaything give you a lot to think about in terms of his inner motivations in playing with this helpless girl who's just moved from Hiroshima to Tokyo. But, I think as time goes on, he's able to see how genuine and sweet Tsukasa is and ends up falling for her surprisingly.

I think one of the pleasures of reading this manga is how surprisingly dimensional everyone is. Everyone has a deeper backstory and motivation for acting the way they do and it definitely comes through in their character interactions and how they develop through the story.

Like if you look at Himeno, the guy seems like a complete jerk when Tsukasa first meets him. He totally brushes her off and lets her take the punishment all for herself. But, he also organized a "welcome to Tokyo" party for her with all the other kids who were late for the first day of high school. So even though he seems hard around the edges, at the core he's a smol boy that must be protected. And when his backstory is explored later on in the manga, it's revealed why he acts the way he does. It's not the most original backstory ever, but the way that he interacts with everyone is reason enough to read.

Another, in my opinion, subtle aspect of the manga which is precious is how Tsukasa's family deals with grief. At first it's at the forefront of their minds. They can't go a day without remembering her. Her mom quit work in order to take care of the home and grieve for her daughter. Tsukasa constantly buys her flowers. They constantly talk about Chihiro and how she's gone. But as the story progresses, they're able to healthily move on as a great example of the slow healing process of dealing with the loss of a loved one. Eventually Tsukasa's mom is able to go back to work and their family dynamic changes a little bit more, but it's good. And Tsukasa isn't constantly crying over Chihiro and finally gets some reprieve when she finds other things that take up her mind. Not in a bad way, just in a way that really demonstrates how time heals all wounds.

And of course, we can't have a shoujo review without talking about the romance. The romance was definitely awkward and showcased the innocence of youth. Like when Tsukasa first met Ichihara and thought that she could learn to love him as part of changing and getting over the loss of her sister. Obviously that would've been hard to do even if Ichihara initially returned her feelings. But instead she ended up with Himeno who's definitely an awkward and clumsy guy, but they make a nice pair together. It's a cute coupling I think, especially between this awkward kind of tsun guy and a weepy girl trying to change herself.

Overall, I'd say this goes beyond just being a shoujo about young love. It explores topics such as grief, trauma, and loss which make it a richer experience. Obviously I liked it because I'm looking for something a little grittier than just pure romance sometimes, but it's just a good read in general. So yeah, I'd recommend it if you're looking for some fleshed out characters in a relatively short series.

Manga Match 76 Akuma to Dolce

How did we get here? I have no clue honestly. How did I find this manga? Why did I finish it? Well I can tell you that the answer to the last question is because I'm most definitely a completionist. If I start something I feel more than inclined to finish it. Darn those Virgo tendencies am I right? Just kidding, I don't really believe in those.

{Spoilers, but it's 9 chapters and shoujo so you already kinda know what's going down}

So the premise of this story is that magic, witches, and demons exist in Japan. If you're a witch you can summon demons to grant wishes for you in exchange for delicious sweets. So this kinda strange girl named Mayuri bakes lots of delicious cakes and pastries in exchange for smaller demons giving her ingredients or cleaning up the kitchen for her. However, one day she accidentally summons a more powerful demon named Beaut. And he's a textbook tsundere. But also kind of an S.

Thus begins their odd relationship together with Beaut doing odd jobs for Mayuri and her falling in love with him. It's a pretty sweet and short read if you're not too particular about the details or not having things fleshed out like her father who's actually a demon...yeah that's a long story that definitely could've been explored a bit further. There's definitely a sense of mystery and if you're going through a demon fetish faze or something I think this might be a good read? Or if you like tsunderes with S tendencies. Then Beaut would be the perfect boy for you.

But I have to say that I wasn't overwhelmed with any particular feelings for this manga. It was a nice concept I guess and had some funny points, but I kept picking it up and forgetting about it even though it was only 9 chapters long.

Anime ATM 95 Kaguya-sama: Love is War

I honestly have a hard time reviewing comedy anime. I think it's hard because the flow and jokes and such just aren't as funny or endearing as when you see them in context when you actually experience them when watching the anime. And I feel like me describing the gags and stuff is such a waste of time when you could actually just watch the anime yourself! So, we've cracked the code. We've solved the case. No need to do comedy anime reviews because you can just watch it yourself!






















Are you still here?

Yeah, I know. I'll continue the review. It was a joke!

{Spoilers, but it's comedy with no plot to follow so you're good}

Man, this show was a real trip. It saved me when I was feeling pretty stressed about roommate issues and the looming finals ahead. But for me, when I watch comedy anime I really have to be in the mood for it. So, admittedly when I finished the anime I wasn't in the same mood. I was also watching most of this on my laptop and I didn't want my friends to see me take screenshots since it's been so long since I've blogged anime...that I don't have good screenshots to share with you all. I'm very sorry. But! More reason now for you to watch it.

I think in this anime there's something here for everyone. Honestly all of the characters are pretty socially awkward in a way, except Chika. Chika is a queen. If you've seen the Chika dance, you already understand what I'm saying, but if you haven't you need to stop reading this and go watch that instead. I remember when V was watching this anime he sent me the clip of the Chika dance and geeked out over how they made it. But he's right. It was well made.

Anyways, the main "story" or more like the background for all the jokes is encapsulated by the OP and the title of the anime itself with a theme of love being a battle. Kaguya is herself a well to do ojou-sama and VP of this prestigious school's school council. The president is a commoner named Shirogane. They both have a thing for each other, but are kind of socially awkward and stubborn so they don't want to be the one to confess/make the first move. It's scary to be rejected after all! So instead, they create elaborate schemes to get the other to fall in love with them and confess first with Kaguya making elaborate plans to nudge Shirogane into getting a cell phone or something ridiculous. There's no end of ridiculous scenarios to behold in this anime I'm telling you.

While all of this is going on and it's all good to stop here, the supporting characters honestly shine a lot. Like Chika! She's the secretary of the student council and she seems kind of like an brainless flat character at first. But she's kind of into the occult and she's really quirky and cute! But also oblivious. And we love her for that. Like when they all made summer plans together that Chika was really down for, but then she made family plans to go to the Tomato Festival in Spain instead?? Doesn't make any sense. Another similarly lovable character is Ishigami. He looks like a gloomy NEET, but he's pretty quirky and relatable as well. Every time he makes a social blunder and has to go home early is honestly a fat mood. (See what I mean? I can describe these things all I want, but it's not the same as just watching clips of the anime or it in its entirety! It'd be better in this case to review it in video format but...that's a lot of work) And lowkey best girl of the year award goes to Hayasaka. The episode where she wingmans for Kaguya when she has a cold. Or when Kaguya gets a Twitter to see what Shirogane's up to and keeps thinking she's breaking it because she's technologically challenged and keeps bothering Hayasaka in the bath. Truly iconic. A real heart of gold and limitless patience. Bless Hayasaka.

From this review you might think "What the heck did I just read? This was a waste of time and a piece of trash." And to that I would agree. I think that all of my reviews are easily described in a similar manner. And I don't know if the quality will ever change from this. And it's just hard to review comedy anime without clips of it. It's really hard to sell something for which you need visuals, audio, and good timing, you know? But I would definitely recommend this anime. All of the characters are likable. The jokes are funny. The pacing is on point. Watch it if you haven't already!

Manga Match 75 Shishunki Bitter Change

I started this manga back when I was still pretty deep into my gender-bender genre manga. Honestly, I didn't follow too closely along with the manga. But it was an interesting concept!

{Spoilers, I suppose}

The basic rundown of this manga: There are two childhood friends Yuuta and Yui. They fall down from a tree when they're young and switch bodies as elementary schoolers. Now they have to grow up in each other's body and go through all of those life changes that the other would've gone through (i.e. periods, growing taller, boy/girl romance problems etc.). As you can imagine, that was pretty awkward. But it's sweet that they never get tired of one another and support one another through these hard times along with their third childhood friend. You get to see the kind of bildungsroman that happens among them as we see them grow up from elementary school all the way through high school and all of the mishaps that occur along the way. It's actually really touching to see them go through all of these changes together.

Eventually, the two of them develop feelings for each other which is pretty cute. And there's a plot twist of an ending when Yuuta's body gets hit by a car and then the two of them switch back. But that's not all. It's kind of an ambiguous ending, but it might've turned out that they wished to switch back bodies again and actually did. What matters is that they all lived happily ever after.

Honestly, I probably didn't sell that very well. I don't remember a whole lot from the manga. But I will say it was a super interesting read to think about. That whole scenario is pretty wild if you think about it. And the way that the mangaka created such an interesting scenario and made it extremely realistic is a feat in and of itself. So I would recommend reading it! It was a unique read that I haven't seen before. A fresh take if you will.