Manga Match 90 Classi9

You know, when I picked this manga up I didn't expect to love it so much. I hadn't even realized that I liked it until I got to the end and the scanlator said something along the lines of "even though the ending was rushed because the manga got discontinued, it was still good" which is a sentiment I share. There were a ton of screenshot-worthy and picturesque moments to capture that are both aesthetically pleasing and emotion evoking. Is emotion evoking even a proper phrase?

{Spoilers, but it's pretty light-hearted slice of life}

This story takes place in Vienna with a bunch of famous musicians you've probably heard of all enrolled in the same school. It fallows Taki Ren's experience through the school with familiar arcs such as the music festival and internal competition which could be likened to a school festival and sports competition of sorts. The only thing is, this school is an all-boys academy, so for Ren to enroll, she has to hide her identity and pretend to be a man.

She encounters many famous musicians who are with her in the trouble-making class S- which include Wagner, Back, Hadyn, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky. Those names should be pretty familiar to you. Each of these famous musicians (and a few bonus characters) are portrayed in the manga in a way vaguely similar to their real life historical counterparts, but with a few artistic liberties taken to make them more personable and engaging in the story. Overall, all of these musicians will wiggle their way into your heart and make you feel like you know each of them by the end. Personally, when the cast of characters is this large, I tend to lose track of who is who and end up frustrated because it seems like a fruitless exercise to get to know everyone. Perhaps because all of their names are familiar or perhaps because each of their personalities and dynamics were so unique, I didn't have quite the same trouble trying to remember everyone's names!

Because this is a slice of life kind of manga, there's no definitive plot per say. It's more about the camaraderie that develops between Class S- and some of the funny antics they get up to because of their eccentric personalities. The class as a whole starts to get closer with the introduction of Ren who catalyzes their relationships into a more intimate one of familial ties which is pretty cute to watch unfold.

Overall, I definitely didn't do a good time persuading anyone to read this. But you should read it regardless of my execution because the story is so good. Usually with manga that have a similar premise, they lose themselves when the plot starts to revolve only around romance. In this case, the romance takes the back seat as each of the musicians works to build the others up and enjoy their time at the school. 10/10 would recommend. I'm not sure why the manga was cut short, but it was wrapped up nicely with a bow of an ending with all of the feels that I'm certain you will enjoy.

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. This is Chopin, the poet of piano, playing for Liszt and Ren and it looks like they've been transported to an underwater wonderland. Just looking at this image gives me goosebumps.

The internal competition is something that I think, if the manga were to go on, would definitely be a "redemption round" kind of arc if they were to continue on for another year. I mean just look at all these cinnamon rolls helping out their friend.

This whole section of trading partners was amazing. I haven't seen anything quite like this in terms of utilizing both sides of a page in order to create this kind of intimate moment. It weirdly enough reminded me of a father-daughter dance at weddings? 

Putting together these screenshots of the manga, I realized that it's been a long time since I've done screenshots. But I hadn't really felt compelled to, even for this manga, until I saw that scene with Chopin playing the piano. I even read past that part and meant to continue my streak of not including pictures, but I just had to go back and capture this. Please please read this! It's so good and so worth it. 

Manga Match 88 Ichigo Channel

My mom just relearned about my manga/anime blog and she's lowkey judging me for reading and watching so many things that have zero plot. And can I blame her? Not really because I'm judging myself too.

Alright, here's the deal. I've been reading Buddy Go! for a while now and it isn't anywhere near finishing (I think). So when I came across this manga that has a little bit of the same premise with the whole gender-bender and idol theme going on, I thought this would quench a little bit of my impatience with the other manga. Not to say that I can't be patient and wait, it's just I really want to know what's gonna go down in that one. 

{Spoilers, but it's shoujo so you kinda already know}

Ichigo Channel follows this girl named Ichiko and her brother Ken into the world of idols. Ken has always dreamed of being a star and when given the chance to actualize his dreams, he jumps on it. There's a catch though. In order to debut as an idol, he has to debut with Ichiko and this other already-famous guy Kanzaki in an all-boy group. Thus, Ichiko is forced for Ken's sake to debut as a boy Ichigou in the all-boy group. Things get a little more difficult, as they tend to do in gender-bender/hidden identity plots, when Kanzaki takes an interest in Ichiko's alternate self Ichigo. Now Ichiko is caught in a web of lies that gets more and more complex as she can't reveal that she was a girl during their idol contract. Don't even get me started on when she starts to fall in love with Kanzaki and the idol contract ends. It was an absolute mess, but a great mess if you're into pretty messy dramas. *pours tea*

As far as shoujo manga goes, I've definitely seen better ones in terms of how natural and believable a relationship is. Let's start off with the more ridiculous one, shall we? The random one-sided love that Tendo had for Ichiko. Like, when did that even start? I have no recollection of sparks flying actually ever. Was it when she took refuge in his apartment after her mother acted unfairly? Was it their first meeting? I felt like that romance was unnecessary and took away from the plot. Sure, maybe if I were a 13 year old girl that might fly and might quench my thirst for a love triangle. But looking at it now, it's just a little bizarre for this 10 year age gap between them and some chance encounter that led to Tendo's heart afluttering. Maybe this is a model of real life and how messy and random it can be, but honestly it felt unnecessary. Next on the list is Kanzaki and Ichiko's relationship. I would say as far as relationships go, on Kanzaki's side it's a little superficial. He bumps into her during a shoot and likes how mysterious she is and she's pretty cute. That's all it takes for him to fall in love. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh because it could have been love at first sight, it just seems a little rushed again. On the other hand is Ichiko and her falling in love with Kanzaki because he's such a hard worker and really kind even when she's Ichigou and seemingly holds back the boy group from becoming wildly successful. This side makes more sense. And I understand that there has to be a "chase" in order to make it more popular and dramatic and create a sense of doki-doki for young girls out there. However, it just felt a little bit over the top for me and kind of unnecessary with how much back and forth there was between the two of them with "I'm sorry I can't be with you" but "I can't stop loving you" and an endless stream of this at that.

All of this is to say that although I read lots and lots of shoujo, maybe I'm growing out of it. I'm definitely not the target demographic in terms of age, although I am in terms of realistic love experience. So if my review comes off as a bit harsh, just know that it's not out of a place of ill intent, but rather of someone that just refuses to transition fully from shoujo to josei.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Perhaps if you're like me and looking for something along the same premise as Buddy Go!. That would be a good way to quell your desires for that kind of thing. And as far as stories with the same premise, this was pretty well executed, albeit a bit dramatic for my tastes. 

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.

Manga Match 68 Hana no Kishi

You know, I thought this manga was going to be different from what it actually was. I don't know why though. The synopsis was pretty accurate and everything. But for some reason I thought it was going to be different.

{Spoilers, but it's kind of just about honor and battling}

This was definitely an...interesting read. There's this girl named Kurono Ran who's disguised as a male knight in order to fulfill her deceased brother's lifelong wish to be Ohtori Sei's, this super pretty high-tier ojou-sama, knight. Because in this world rich people have knights I guess? I don't really know. Everything revolved around this school and the idea that only one person could be Ohtori's first knight and everyone would challenge Kurono for that honor. There was no real world-building outside of this premise.

And of course there's a love interest. It's this also rich dude named Ibara. His trope is the super-rich, but #relatable guy because he acts super humble. He just reads manga and eats cup noodle all day, but he's a pretty cool guy with morals. He even wants to be normal, but his brain and his fighting skills are too powerful so his family wants him to usurp his older brother. So from this short summary, you can see there's a lot of family politics packed into these 29 chapters.

Basically there's a lot of knights fighting Kurono for the honor of being Ohtori's knight. There's a lot of Kurono denying her feelings for Ibara which arguably all stem from the fact that he's the only one that treats her like a girl. There's sudden drama as there always is when there's revealed to be head trauma on Kurono's part which made her forget her brother's betrayal and how he didn't actually die. And there was a whole coup orchestrated by her brother ALL SO OHTORI DIDN'T HAVE TO END UP AS THE NEXT LEADER OF THE OHTORI GROUP because the guy didn't want her to take on the hardship. I mean that's sweet and all, but I think Ohtori really had it. She was sweet, confident, supported, and intelligent. Way better than that puppet he wanted to put as the next head of the group pppft. Not a lot of this added up, but it was alright.

Would I say this was the best thing ever? No, probably not. Would I say that it was alright and there were some doki-doki moment? Well, yeah sure I'll grant it that. Did everything add up for me? No, not really. Do I recommend it? I mean, it's a nice thought but not really sure about the execution part. Maybe you'll like it if you've got a hankering for a short gender bender?

Manga Match 65 Twin Role

Alright here's a real short and fluffy one for you.

{Spoilers, except it's literally 8 chapters so there's exactly 1 arc}

Lowkey this reminds me of Buddyz Go!, except instead of them both being idols and meeting and the whole gender bender thing, this is instead like an animator-music composer duo with one sided love. Basically, the son of a famous music producer wanted to test if he was good enough without his father's reputation to back him up so he uploads his music online. This girl is an amazing artist and animates the videos that go along with his music video. The catch? The guy pretends he's an adult woman instead of a high school boy to really make sure that no one could trace the music back to him. And obviously as these things go, he realizes that she's the animator behind the videos they collaborate on. But she's dense and like "pfft no way that's my sensible amazing music collaboration partner" and this ongoing misunderstanding goes on.

I guess the most entertaining part is how he feels like he has to act like he's all that in order to be accepted at school and be popular because his dad brainwashed him into acting like a winner all the time. But in actuality he's a pretty insecure kid like the rest of us.

Overall, I'd say it was pretty good for a really short series. If you have time I think there's some really cute fluffy shoujo uwu moments if you know what I'm saying. But, if you have time, you should really invest in a longer series. I dunno, I think I've just come to realize that longer series although they take up more of your time, ultimately they're really worth it!

Manga Match 44 Migawari Hakushaku no Bouken

23 Sept 2018

Well, I've officially moved into my dorm for the year and the good part is that I'm not really homesick to the point of tears this time. The bad part is that there is no kitchen in this building. I took all of the luxuries from last year for granted and now I miss it :((((

{Spoilers}

Well this is another gender swap kind of manga that's set in this fantastical ~medieval(?)~ era (LOL it's hard to describe because I know little to nothing about what kind of era it's supposed to be set in). There's this girl Mireille who has to stand in as her twin brother inside the royal court and while she's there she encounters many interesting people. She takes part in many of the mysteries that unfold such as the secret plot to kill one of the princesses of a nearby kingdom and all of the plot twists that came along with it.

I was reminded a bit of Clannad with the fact that Mireille and her family own a bakery and yet she's such a terrible breadmaker similar to Nagisa's mom.

It's kind of hard to summarize something that had such a complex plot for only being 32 chapters, so if this summary ish thing doesn't make any sense please just don't mind it. In fact it was so complex that I don't even think I got some of the more nuanced mystery points. It's definitely a manga that you could reread and probably gain more insight on into everyone's hidden motives and such, especially the king's.

{Ahah I just woke up, maybe I should've picked a better time to write this}

Overall though it was a pretty interesting read. There was just enough mystery, and the normal amount of romantic misunderstandings for it to be shoujo, and a bit of comedy as well which made it enjoyable to read. If you're looking for something a bit more dimensional than your straight up shoujo, you should consider reading this one.

I just had to add this one because Fred is actually gold. It's hard to read him since he is always scheming and plotting things from multiple angles, so it's hard to tell if he was really scared of having to do a test of courage in the haunted house or if that was just an excuse for him to go on vacation or investigate other threats to the royal family.

When Richard is not only the main interest, but also the castle's hero.

Manga Match 43 Clear Up After Rain {Ame Nochi Hare}

Oof. Well I've come to be grateful that when I was working it kept me pretty busy because now, with nothing much to do, I've been pretty bored. Not that that's anything to complain about, I love relaxing, but it makes me anxious for the tumultuous times ahead with a heavy school load. I'm not the only one feeling the pressure as my younger sister is also finding the transition from summer relaxation into schoolwork mayhem to be overwhelming. It's a sobering feeling not really being able to help her, nor really understanding how I can help her. I'm grateful that the conventional teaching methods worked for me, but it also keeps me from being able to really sympathize with my sister.

{Spoilers}

Wow I didn't even know how to transition that so I didn't even try *dab*

I've been browsing some different subsets of anime and there's a pretty popular kind on switching bodies/genders. It started off with a manga recommendation to read Shishunki Bitter Change and then it got me into this manga that's already completed. Clear Up After Rain was a refreshing change to my usual formulaic shoujo reads. It was different in the sense that there was this mystery element of these five boys all changing into girls whenever it rained by a stroke of fate or maybe misfortune. But the mangaka really took it up a notch by adding in the element of not just romance, but the evolution of the boys into people that were sympathetic towards the problems girls had and were able to find romance to treasure through their fateful encounters as both boys and girls towards the people surrounding them. It was a bit stressful at times because it seemed to be only a matter of time until someone found out their secret, however by trusting in the secrecy of the bubbly chairman and the serious dorm head, the five of them were able to keep this gender-change phenomena a secret. Towards the halfway point in the story I couldn't help but feel distress as our five main boys weren't getting any closer to solving the mystery behind their gender change and this becoming an increasing problem in their relations with their love interests. However, it was discovered by Yuusuke that the only way to stop the phenomena was to confess your true feelings to the one you love. And this lead to the conclusion of a diverse group of love interests and their counterparts. For Yuusuke it was maturing enough to realize that love was the one thing he didn't want to have to compete with against his golden boy brother. He realized that the girl he loved was far more important than just a win and wanted to mature enough to truly and sincerely love her. Oof that was the feels. And then there was Madoka who for the majority of the story found his fiancee to be more of a sister than a true love interest. However through seeing her mature as well as the sympathy towards women that he gained through his time as a girl he was able to realize his feelings for her. Not only that, but he was also able to confront the reason why he stopped chasing calligraphy as his career and was pushed forward from his stagnant phase. And then the last and most complicated of the requited loves is Hazuki. As a boy he's fallen in love with a girl, Asumi, and as a girl Asumi's older brother, Takuma, has fallen in love with him. Not only that, but the girl who he loves has a classmate who also loves her, although unrequited. When Hazuki is confronted with wanting to confess his feelings for Asumi and having to answer Takuma's confession, he realizes that he can't answer Asumi's feelings while not having answered Takuma's confession. In the end he's able to successfully tell everyone what he means to tell them in earnest and is able to have a happily ever after with Asumi. And then we've got the two karate boys, Goro and Touma. Both of their loves were unrequited, with Goro falling in love with the girl who loved Asumi and Touma falling in love with Hazuki. They were both able to earnestly speak their true feelings to the ones they loved, a smack of reality to the face when the other three boys were able to live happily ever after. But I think in the end it ended up being a satisfactory ending.

It was just the right amount of romance, suspense, drama, and mystery to keep me intrigued and reading more. It was a well thought out piece and I'd really recommend reading it. I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into when I started reading it and it was a bit confusing and slow to start off with, however I couldn't help but root for these pure boys and their romance.

I was so happy at this point. It was the turning point after which all of the love stories came to a conclusion and all the boys switched back to normal.

Hngh they're so cute as girls

*secretly sad that ToumaxHazuki never sailed*