It's been so long since I last finished anything or at least it feels that way. The school year is just zipping by with roommate difficulties, academic difficulties, and extracurriculars on top of that. But we're almost done everybody!
{Spoilers, but it's slice of life}
Now, I dunno about y'all, but my classic anime/manga girl reference for ditzy, happy-go-lucky girls is Yui from K-On! So, imagine Yui, except she's a light novel editor for a publishing company. And instead of playing the guitar with her friends and having a grand ol' time, her dream is to publish a novel that sells 10 million copies.
Great, so now after that quick visualization exercise you now have: Sakurai Tamako. Her boss accidentally called her Tamago so that's where the whole golden egg thing came from if you were curious.
This is a really cutesy kind of slice of life meant for you to read after a long and stressful day of school/work. Tamako is just starting out at this publishing company and she has this super ambitious goal to one day publish a work that sells 10 million copies. This doesn't go as smoothly as we might hope, but it's more about enjoying the journey anyways, right? So Tamako ends up having to do tons of research and training reading lots of light novels and going to bookstores and seeing how everyone advertises their products. Her story is basically one of perseverance throughout tough times as you work towards your ambitious goal.
The story stops after 19 chapters and 2 volumes, so we'll never know if Tamako is able to reach her goal, but at her trajectory and with the supporting characters around here I'd say she's got a pretty good chance.
Overall, if you're really stressed out and you just need some cute happy-go-lucky girl with josei manga vibes to unwind, this is the story for you. It's not too heavy and the humor is pretty solid with some nice chuunibyou moments and such that I personally enjoyed.
Showing posts with label josei manga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label josei manga. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Manga Match 80 Yoru Cafe
If I spent more time watching anime, I definitely wouldn't have been beat out by V. But instead here I am reading countless novels about ikemen. Am I sorry? A little bit. But for now it's alright to spend my young adult years tucked safely away into the worlds inside these different manga.
{Spoilers, except it's shoujo so you already know}
Well, the first order of business is to clarify that this is a reverse harem. There's this girl Hina and she's recently been widowed. Her former partner was this billionaire guy that was old enough to be her father. When he passed away, she vowed to never love anyone again, but of course this sweet man didn't want his beloved wife to be alone forever. So he set up this shop called Queen's Cafe (you can guess who the queen is lol) and filled it with three ikemen that, unbeknownst to her, were her options for remarriage.
It's pretty sweet though because even though those ikemen were put there just as her marriage options mostly out of obligation to Hina's husband, they were all able to mend each others' wounds in small ways by just supporting each other. And you got to understand a little bit of the backstories about each of the members and how they were related to Hina's late husband.
For a 15 chapter story, it was decently fleshed out. There were a lot of parts where it felt kind of forced and jammed in there, but for the most part it was decent. The only one that I really disliked was the lawyer. He was some random dude that fell in love with Hina, only to find out that he was Hina's husband's lawyer. And then once the husband died he thought it was his turn to swoop in on her and the makeshift family she found in the cafe. And he was kinda creepy about it. Sure, it could've been a lot worse, but he was also lowkey a stalker.
Would I recommend this manga? It was pretty good I guess. A lot of parts were sudden like when Hina fell in love even though she vowed to never fall in love again. Like why did she fall in love with this guy? I dunno, just seems like they could've gotten to know each other better before the whole thing. So maybe the chemistry was just a little bit off. In a nutshell, you could definitely find a better manga. And I don't have that much experience with reverse harem manga to recommend anything better, but I'm sure they're out there somewhere.
{Spoilers, except it's shoujo so you already know}
Well, the first order of business is to clarify that this is a reverse harem. There's this girl Hina and she's recently been widowed. Her former partner was this billionaire guy that was old enough to be her father. When he passed away, she vowed to never love anyone again, but of course this sweet man didn't want his beloved wife to be alone forever. So he set up this shop called Queen's Cafe (you can guess who the queen is lol) and filled it with three ikemen that, unbeknownst to her, were her options for remarriage.
It's pretty sweet though because even though those ikemen were put there just as her marriage options mostly out of obligation to Hina's husband, they were all able to mend each others' wounds in small ways by just supporting each other. And you got to understand a little bit of the backstories about each of the members and how they were related to Hina's late husband.
For a 15 chapter story, it was decently fleshed out. There were a lot of parts where it felt kind of forced and jammed in there, but for the most part it was decent. The only one that I really disliked was the lawyer. He was some random dude that fell in love with Hina, only to find out that he was Hina's husband's lawyer. And then once the husband died he thought it was his turn to swoop in on her and the makeshift family she found in the cafe. And he was kinda creepy about it. Sure, it could've been a lot worse, but he was also lowkey a stalker.
Would I recommend this manga? It was pretty good I guess. A lot of parts were sudden like when Hina fell in love even though she vowed to never fall in love again. Like why did she fall in love with this guy? I dunno, just seems like they could've gotten to know each other better before the whole thing. So maybe the chemistry was just a little bit off. In a nutshell, you could definitely find a better manga. And I don't have that much experience with reverse harem manga to recommend anything better, but I'm sure they're out there somewhere.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Manga Match 78 The Lion and the Bride
You know, there was a point in my life that I really enjoyed in a twisted sort of way when things took kind of a weird turn in manga like this. It's hard to explain, but I mean in like Daytime Shooting Star when she ended up going out with the classmate instead of the hot teacher. Those kinds of twists. And I think I still might be in that phase of my life. Because I was up until 3 AM reading this. Aiya.
{Spoilers because there's a strange plot here and it didn't make much sense I think it's because I was up late reading it}
So, there's this girl named Yua and her parents died. She's been living with her grandmother who also falls ill. And she's been dating her teacher for a while now. Then her grandmother dies and her teacher asks her to marry him and because she's young and naive she says yes and is in for a huge surprise when she gets home. It turns out that her classmate Subaru is Sensei's son. And that means that she's kind of his mom?
And then all sorts of ridiculous stuff happens. It's like in a regular shoujo with the whole love triangle except it's between father and son which is YIKES as you can imagine. And then Sensei's ex-wife comes back and it turns out his love for her honestly has never faded which deeply hurts Yua. And so they decide to divorce. Except, plot twist, Sensei never submitted the papers so she's all clear. And then along the way she realizes that she really loves Subaru. Which is the major plot twist to me.
The whole thing was honestly a wild ride. I definitely wasn't expecting this when I picked it up, but there we go. That was the whole manga.
Something that I thought was really interesting was how Yua talked. Sometimes she would refer to herself as "beautiful and perfect" and I wonder if that has to do with her trying to reassure herself of her worth because she's gone through so many dark times. I could be reading too much into it because it could just be the translator's interpretation. Who knows?
Overall, if you like really dramatic plot twists this would be a good manga to read. Or if you can't decide if you like childish guys (Subaru) or older and mature men (Sensei) more then you don't have to choose. You can have both in this manga. I can't say that I've ever seen this premise in any other manga, so if nothing else it's an interesting read.
{Spoilers because there's a strange plot here and it didn't make much sense I think it's because I was up late reading it}
So, there's this girl named Yua and her parents died. She's been living with her grandmother who also falls ill. And she's been dating her teacher for a while now. Then her grandmother dies and her teacher asks her to marry him and because she's young and naive she says yes and is in for a huge surprise when she gets home. It turns out that her classmate Subaru is Sensei's son. And that means that she's kind of his mom?
And then all sorts of ridiculous stuff happens. It's like in a regular shoujo with the whole love triangle except it's between father and son which is YIKES as you can imagine. And then Sensei's ex-wife comes back and it turns out his love for her honestly has never faded which deeply hurts Yua. And so they decide to divorce. Except, plot twist, Sensei never submitted the papers so she's all clear. And then along the way she realizes that she really loves Subaru. Which is the major plot twist to me.
The whole thing was honestly a wild ride. I definitely wasn't expecting this when I picked it up, but there we go. That was the whole manga.
Something that I thought was really interesting was how Yua talked. Sometimes she would refer to herself as "beautiful and perfect" and I wonder if that has to do with her trying to reassure herself of her worth because she's gone through so many dark times. I could be reading too much into it because it could just be the translator's interpretation. Who knows?
Overall, if you like really dramatic plot twists this would be a good manga to read. Or if you can't decide if you like childish guys (Subaru) or older and mature men (Sensei) more then you don't have to choose. You can have both in this manga. I can't say that I've ever seen this premise in any other manga, so if nothing else it's an interesting read.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Manga Match 72 Koisuru nante Kiite Nai
This was a surprisingly good manga. It really caught me off guard. It's honestly expected for it to not be a super great experience when the manga is only 3 chapters. You can't expect a whole lot of development within three short chapters. However, this manga was really successful.
{Spoilers, but it's only 3 chapters so}
It follows this office woman who's realized that she's no longer in her prime. She asks to be temporarily moved to another department in her company to become more competent at her job (which is super admirable wow) and she's being trained by this very straight-laced man. He teaches her the ropes, but also allows her to grow on her own in terms of how she thinks the job should be done. A really good and nurturing teacher, you know? And it's a strictly professional relationship. Until it isn't. And I think it's just really sweet how they naturally fall in love after working together and seeing each other's strong points. It's not like in shoujo where they fall in love at first sight. I think it's more realistic to desire for this kind of love where you fall in love with their personality and their admirable points rather than their visual. But maybe this is just some musings from an old lady, who really knows?
And the ending where she's uncertain if he likes her and then he hands her a report of all different aspects about himself so that she can get to know more about him. It was dorky, but also really sweet.
I'd recommend you read it. It's super short, the story is compelling, and it displays a more quiet romance that we don't often see. It's definitely kira-kira at some points, but I think overall it's worth checking out because of the plot line and execution.
{Spoilers, but it's only 3 chapters so}
It follows this office woman who's realized that she's no longer in her prime. She asks to be temporarily moved to another department in her company to become more competent at her job (which is super admirable wow) and she's being trained by this very straight-laced man. He teaches her the ropes, but also allows her to grow on her own in terms of how she thinks the job should be done. A really good and nurturing teacher, you know? And it's a strictly professional relationship. Until it isn't. And I think it's just really sweet how they naturally fall in love after working together and seeing each other's strong points. It's not like in shoujo where they fall in love at first sight. I think it's more realistic to desire for this kind of love where you fall in love with their personality and their admirable points rather than their visual. But maybe this is just some musings from an old lady, who really knows?
And the ending where she's uncertain if he likes her and then he hands her a report of all different aspects about himself so that she can get to know more about him. It was dorky, but also really sweet.
I'd recommend you read it. It's super short, the story is compelling, and it displays a more quiet romance that we don't often see. It's definitely kira-kira at some points, but I think overall it's worth checking out because of the plot line and execution.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Manga Match 67 Soshite, Hare ni Naru
When I first saw this manga, I was pretty intrigued by the synopsis. It just seemed really weird to me that this girl would marry some guy even though he had fallen in love with her sister. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was pretty cute.
{Spoilers, but it's only 6 chapters so}
So this manga revolves around a multi-generational all-female household. There's a grandmother, her two daughters, and one of the daughter's two daughters. So five women in total. And it's about their daily lives, obviously because it's slice of life.
I think something that makes this manga more intriguing than others is that it doesn't paint this perfect picture of how life will look like when you're 30. The two daughters are working women, 30, and seemingly not close to marriage. The two older women are trying to mend the past and their kind of falling out with one another. If you end up reading this, it's interesting to look at their family dynamic and the lives that each one individually leads. The mangaka was definitely very smart in how they chose to intersperse knowledge here and there to let the reader come to some of their own conclusions before revealing what was really going on. And all throughout there were super lovable characters like the rakugo guy and how he fell in love with one of the sisters. That was really wholesome. Or how the other sister had this guy who fell in love with her. He helped her realize that she really did want to work full-time and to not be scared of failure. And when they never confess their love it really gets me. I dunno why, but the whole thing of "I can't tell him/her about my feelings because it'll just get in the way of their dreams" is super sweet but also stupid noble. Really just gets me feeling some type of way aiya.
Overall, I'd say it was a wonderful 6 chapters. It was short, but there was a lot of feelings and stories to be shown all throughout and it was a great read-through.
{Spoilers, but it's only 6 chapters so}
So this manga revolves around a multi-generational all-female household. There's a grandmother, her two daughters, and one of the daughter's two daughters. So five women in total. And it's about their daily lives, obviously because it's slice of life.
I think something that makes this manga more intriguing than others is that it doesn't paint this perfect picture of how life will look like when you're 30. The two daughters are working women, 30, and seemingly not close to marriage. The two older women are trying to mend the past and their kind of falling out with one another. If you end up reading this, it's interesting to look at their family dynamic and the lives that each one individually leads. The mangaka was definitely very smart in how they chose to intersperse knowledge here and there to let the reader come to some of their own conclusions before revealing what was really going on. And all throughout there were super lovable characters like the rakugo guy and how he fell in love with one of the sisters. That was really wholesome. Or how the other sister had this guy who fell in love with her. He helped her realize that she really did want to work full-time and to not be scared of failure. And when they never confess their love it really gets me. I dunno why, but the whole thing of "I can't tell him/her about my feelings because it'll just get in the way of their dreams" is super sweet but also stupid noble. Really just gets me feeling some type of way aiya.
Overall, I'd say it was a wonderful 6 chapters. It was short, but there was a lot of feelings and stories to be shown all throughout and it was a great read-through.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Manga Match 62 Nineteen, Twenty-One
I think I just went on a kick where I started reading some older and shorter manga that've been completed. This is just because I'm reading over 50 ongoing manga and it's getting really out of hand if I'm being honest. I lowkey need an intervention.
{Spoilers, except it's just kinda fluffy so there's nothing world-smashing going on here}
This manga was powerful in a quiet sort of way. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. From the summary, it seemed like it was going to be the story of a girl that lost her memory in a car crash, and then meets this guy that she knew before she lost those 2 years worth of memory of her life and they rekindle their love or something.
Instead, this was the story of a girl that has to reprepare for college admissions, and a guy who doesn't want to grow up just yet. So physically, this girl is 21, but mentally she's 19. This guy is 19 both physically and mentally. And when they come together it's kind of a sweet thing. They bond over their mutual love of taking care of stray cats. They meet every day and because they both see how mutually kind they are, they slowly fall into a mutual love. I think because there's lack of dialogue at some parts, it seems kind of silent as you can just watch and fill in the silence between them with understanding. I think that's one of the most beautiful kinds of love actually, when there can be love between two people without really having to put it into words, or at least it looks nice in dramas and manga hehe I wouldn't really know.
They even make friends with one of the neighborhood ladies who originally hates the cats because they mess up her nicely tended yard. However, they're able to come to an understanding and coexist in beautiful harmony (omg that phrase is so cringe, but I'll leave it in).
It's pretty cute too how the guy kind of fills in the gap of 2 years left within the girl with his youthful charm. And cute how he still sees her as more mature and as if there's a gap in between the two that he's constantly trying to bridge. And obviously it's cute when they finally get together, duh.
Overall, it's a quiet and more nuanced sort of manga. And it's got a carefree and whimsical quality to it. I'd recommend reading it if you're looking for something a bit more relaxing and you really like cats and just soft things. It was really just soft.
{Spoilers, except it's just kinda fluffy so there's nothing world-smashing going on here}
This manga was powerful in a quiet sort of way. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. From the summary, it seemed like it was going to be the story of a girl that lost her memory in a car crash, and then meets this guy that she knew before she lost those 2 years worth of memory of her life and they rekindle their love or something.
Instead, this was the story of a girl that has to reprepare for college admissions, and a guy who doesn't want to grow up just yet. So physically, this girl is 21, but mentally she's 19. This guy is 19 both physically and mentally. And when they come together it's kind of a sweet thing. They bond over their mutual love of taking care of stray cats. They meet every day and because they both see how mutually kind they are, they slowly fall into a mutual love. I think because there's lack of dialogue at some parts, it seems kind of silent as you can just watch and fill in the silence between them with understanding. I think that's one of the most beautiful kinds of love actually, when there can be love between two people without really having to put it into words, or at least it looks nice in dramas and manga hehe I wouldn't really know.
They even make friends with one of the neighborhood ladies who originally hates the cats because they mess up her nicely tended yard. However, they're able to come to an understanding and coexist in beautiful harmony (omg that phrase is so cringe, but I'll leave it in).
It's pretty cute too how the guy kind of fills in the gap of 2 years left within the girl with his youthful charm. And cute how he still sees her as more mature and as if there's a gap in between the two that he's constantly trying to bridge. And obviously it's cute when they finally get together, duh.
Overall, it's a quiet and more nuanced sort of manga. And it's got a carefree and whimsical quality to it. I'd recommend reading it if you're looking for something a bit more relaxing and you really like cats and just soft things. It was really just soft.
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Manga Match 57 Two manga that are about kinda immoral things and make me kind angry ngl
Hi, so as you can see from the title...the contents of these manga are sketchy at best in terms of morality. Sure they justify this stuff with like happy endings and all of these nuances that make it seem like "hey maybe this is okay" but in actually it's all just very sus. Now I'm not here to be your moral compass and tell you that the following contents are pretty wrong and messed up but...they're pretty wrong and messed up. So sorry if you think adultery and cheating is right because...these just make me feel kinda sad, pretty uncomfortable, and downright pissed at some point. hAh!
{Spoilers, except I told you that we were in for some tea so you know issa boutta go down (sorry idk who I was imitating)}
So let's start off with the one I read first: Gozen 3-ji no Muhouchitai. So I thought this was actually pretty funny. It's about this girl that moves to the big city and wants to make art. But then she gets roped into basically being a graphic design slave for a pachinko company and even though she says that she's going to quit, she gets sucked into the rapid pace of life there and the people that she works with. Because her job is so fast-paced, she doesn't have time to hang out with her boyfriend that's still in uni, using his place to sleep rather than hang out with him. Which is honestly justified by how hard they work her. But he takes this as neglect and blatantly cheats on her with some younger girl. I think it's kind of interesting thinking about this social trend where men often cheat on their significant other with a woman that's younger than them. At the core it's all about evolution and creating offspring so obviously a younger woman would be physically more ready to have kids I guess, but there's just something really wrong about the whole thing. Now I'm no professional sociologist so I can't really say for sure, but there's something to be said about this trend that we see so often and just accept.
Okay back to this messed up story. So the girl finally confronts him about cheating on her after a super long time and she ends up meeting this older man that works in the same building as him. They often get lunch together and it seems like a pretty pure relationship. Except for the fact that he's freaking married. Like hello that's when you say sayonara to any feelings and skedaddle the heck out of there! But no, even though this is obviously illegal she says "it's true love, no matter what I do I can't live without him" or whatever. And this older guy confesses that his wife left him and their marriage was super unhappy and then finally divorced her. Like does this happen in real life? This was such a wack story???
Would I recommend that you read this? I mean it's pretty short and I think it's pretty inspiring in terms of the work ethic that she displays and sends a really good message about how even thought the first job you get right out of college isn't your dream job, that doesn't mean that you can't get anything valuable out of it or that you're wasting your time. No matter what you do, you can learn from your current circumstances and keep pushing forward. Yeah, but about the adultery...yikes fam I'm no lawyer but you really should try to avoid that circumstance in the first place.
Ah, the second manga. Haha I told my mom about this one and she was thoroughly angered by it as well. It's called Cappuccino and there's a pretty nice little ongoing analogy to the cappuccino and a little bit of a cafe theme going on here. But let's get down to it shall we? We've got this couple that just moved in together. They're sweet, they're in love, the guy Sousuke's promised Ari's parents that he'll marry her once they're financially stable. But he screws up. He's so dumb. And my mom got so angry by this. So this boy is a prep school teacher okay and his student one day is like "omg sensei i love you" and that's all it took for this guy's heart to be swayed. Okay I've seen posts online that're like "if a guy isn't attracted to any other girl that means he can't appreciate his significant other" but I think Sousuke's crossed the line. I think once you fall into the temptation and animalistic desire of needing that kind of chase or excitement that's just plain wrong. And he had the gall to still be in love with her two years after they broke up. Thank god that she moved on and was able to find someone that she was able to trust after being so brutally injured like that. Ugh just thinking about it honestly pisses me off. Like who gave you the right to feel privileged like that and to lie and cheat on your loving girlfriend just because some pretty young thing bats her eyes at you and tells you to kiss her??? Like I don't see her risking anything to be in this relationship. It was just stupid Sousuke.
As you can see I was thoroughly pissed off by this manga. Sure it was nice in the end when Ari ended up alright you know. That was nice. But Sousuke was a piece of work. And even though it was seven chapters...was it worth it? Ehhhhhh no not really it just got me really angry.
So there you have it, two manga that I read recently that made me feel kinda eh about the whole thing and a little bit bitter towards adulthood and that vague morality that they have. It's pretty scary thinking about it honestly. Like looking at these stories and reflecting on them, they do have a seed of truth to them. Stay vigilant y'all and make sure to look out for yourselves in this dangerous world!
{Spoilers, except I told you that we were in for some tea so you know issa boutta go down (sorry idk who I was imitating)}
So let's start off with the one I read first: Gozen 3-ji no Muhouchitai. So I thought this was actually pretty funny. It's about this girl that moves to the big city and wants to make art. But then she gets roped into basically being a graphic design slave for a pachinko company and even though she says that she's going to quit, she gets sucked into the rapid pace of life there and the people that she works with. Because her job is so fast-paced, she doesn't have time to hang out with her boyfriend that's still in uni, using his place to sleep rather than hang out with him. Which is honestly justified by how hard they work her. But he takes this as neglect and blatantly cheats on her with some younger girl. I think it's kind of interesting thinking about this social trend where men often cheat on their significant other with a woman that's younger than them. At the core it's all about evolution and creating offspring so obviously a younger woman would be physically more ready to have kids I guess, but there's just something really wrong about the whole thing. Now I'm no professional sociologist so I can't really say for sure, but there's something to be said about this trend that we see so often and just accept.
Okay back to this messed up story. So the girl finally confronts him about cheating on her after a super long time and she ends up meeting this older man that works in the same building as him. They often get lunch together and it seems like a pretty pure relationship. Except for the fact that he's freaking married. Like hello that's when you say sayonara to any feelings and skedaddle the heck out of there! But no, even though this is obviously illegal she says "it's true love, no matter what I do I can't live without him" or whatever. And this older guy confesses that his wife left him and their marriage was super unhappy and then finally divorced her. Like does this happen in real life? This was such a wack story???
Would I recommend that you read this? I mean it's pretty short and I think it's pretty inspiring in terms of the work ethic that she displays and sends a really good message about how even thought the first job you get right out of college isn't your dream job, that doesn't mean that you can't get anything valuable out of it or that you're wasting your time. No matter what you do, you can learn from your current circumstances and keep pushing forward. Yeah, but about the adultery...yikes fam I'm no lawyer but you really should try to avoid that circumstance in the first place.
Ah, the second manga. Haha I told my mom about this one and she was thoroughly angered by it as well. It's called Cappuccino and there's a pretty nice little ongoing analogy to the cappuccino and a little bit of a cafe theme going on here. But let's get down to it shall we? We've got this couple that just moved in together. They're sweet, they're in love, the guy Sousuke's promised Ari's parents that he'll marry her once they're financially stable. But he screws up. He's so dumb. And my mom got so angry by this. So this boy is a prep school teacher okay and his student one day is like "omg sensei i love you" and that's all it took for this guy's heart to be swayed. Okay I've seen posts online that're like "if a guy isn't attracted to any other girl that means he can't appreciate his significant other" but I think Sousuke's crossed the line. I think once you fall into the temptation and animalistic desire of needing that kind of chase or excitement that's just plain wrong. And he had the gall to still be in love with her two years after they broke up. Thank god that she moved on and was able to find someone that she was able to trust after being so brutally injured like that. Ugh just thinking about it honestly pisses me off. Like who gave you the right to feel privileged like that and to lie and cheat on your loving girlfriend just because some pretty young thing bats her eyes at you and tells you to kiss her??? Like I don't see her risking anything to be in this relationship. It was just stupid Sousuke.
As you can see I was thoroughly pissed off by this manga. Sure it was nice in the end when Ari ended up alright you know. That was nice. But Sousuke was a piece of work. And even though it was seven chapters...was it worth it? Ehhhhhh no not really it just got me really angry.
So there you have it, two manga that I read recently that made me feel kinda eh about the whole thing and a little bit bitter towards adulthood and that vague morality that they have. It's pretty scary thinking about it honestly. Like looking at these stories and reflecting on them, they do have a seed of truth to them. Stay vigilant y'all and make sure to look out for yourselves in this dangerous world!
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Manga Match 53 Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai
Ah, recently I've kind of been reflecting on what my college experience has been like so far. This is my second year of college and while I think in some aspects I've really grown into my own and be successful in, whenever I think about how much other people have accomplished, I really haven't accomplished much. They say that comparison is the thief of happiness and that really hits hard. Oof, I have so much to be grateful for, but there's still so much I want to accomplish and so much to do. I might also just be in this state of mind because my workload for this quarter is actually ridiculous. Ahahaha...
Also, as I've read more and more manga over the years, I've started gravitating towards more josei. Don't get me wrong, I still really love my shoujo and all, but something about josei has been really appealing to me lately?
{Spoilers}
Oh jeez, I must've started this manga...maybe 3 years ago? Yeah actually since high school I've been reading this. Haha, so since it's been so long I don't have a super clear memory of everything that's gone on, but I think I stuck with it for so long because it was just really cute.
So basically, there's this girl named Shibata and she's pretty normal. She's your average office worker in Tokyo, moved there from the countryside in order to live a more ~exciting~ city life. She's in her early 30's if I remember correctly and everyone that's younger than her is getting married and she's feeling pressured to find someone. She has this trash younger boyfriend that she literally starves herself for to afford to spoil him with gifts. Obviously that's not healthy and when she realizes that she's been conned, she's left feeling defeated and confused. In the supermarket she runs into her old superior from work Kurosawa, who she calls Shunin. He's now quit the workforce and owns a cute cafe where he makes omurice and other cute dishes. It's one of those "image doesn't fit profession" things haha he looks a bit stern at first. But he's also got a heart of gold. I've also got a sweet spot for those "I was formerly in a gang, but now I've cleaned up and am a good boy" kind of archetypes. Shunin is one of those. And he's such a smol boy.
The thing that kept me going through this manga was seeing the kinds of challenges that they went through and their kind of awkward love. It was similar to how high school shoujo is awkward because it's their first attempt at love. And in the same way, for these two it's very similar in that they've never experienced requited love. And for both of them, they're not young and in their 20's anymore. It's an interesting look into the kind of world I haven't experienced yet of adulthood and traversing that realm of mature relationships, but also the tender love that they have? Haha I feel so awkward typing that.
Anyways, this was definitely a bad review. I've been having a hard time vocalizing my opinion whether through written or spoken words. I'm trying to work on it, but sometimes the words just don't come out like you want them to. Don't let this terrible review stop you from reading this amazing manga. It gives you hope for finding love, even if you're just a random person.
And of course they live happily ever after.
*cries* after reading this review over again it's definitely missing something, probably my passion because I can't remember the details too well. But, you know, some things just leave an imprint on your heart with memories of how you felt more so than specific memories anyways.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Manga Match 46 Perfect World
Okay, I normally never do this. I've never before written about a manga that hasn't been completed. However, for this one I'm not sure if I'll ever get to complete it since it's been licensed. So, before I forget all of the precious feelings I'm holding in my heart right now, I decided to write about it. In the middle of finals week. Because I'm a genius. At procrastination, that is.
{Spoilers}
So, as we all know by now, I'm really good at procrastinating through discovering manga. It's one of my God-given talents you could say, but it's also a tremendous time drain. But sometimes you really just find yourself in the feels so much that it doesn't even really matter that your GPA is in the pits and you're in piles of college debt :).
And so I found myself enthralled with this manga. Honestly I have no idea why it has such low ratings on MAL. Maybe it's because it doesn't portray physically disabled people well? Or maybe people don't like the way the romance is going? Because I sure as heck don't like it either. But in any case, don't let the MAL score fool you because I gave it a 10/10 no regrets, and I never rate anything on MAL.
So the premise of this manga is this girl is living on her own in Tokyo after chasing her dreams as an illustrator and ending up as an interior designer at a firm in Tokyo partnered with an architecture firm. Surprise, there's a really cute boy there that happens to be her first love from high school back in Matsumoto. He's become a fine specimen of the male variety and a successful architect at that. The only catch is that he's in a wheelchair now due to a spinal cord injury from a car accident. But even so, Kawana still falls in love with him all over again. Even though Ayukawa is still wary of love, swearing to live the rest of his life by himself in order to not cause anyone anymore pain, the two fall in love. And it's really sweet. Together they're living this life, which isn't the most perfect, but they're two really happy people in it. Except that Ayukawa keeps getting sick and Kawana isn't really able to help him in any solid way. This turns into a bigger problem as the both of them only feel useless to the other: Kawana with her lack of caretaker knowledge and Ayukawa with his physical limitations to be the perfect life partner for her. What's even more frustrating is seeing all the couples around them in a similar situation and somehow all of it working out for them.
Then, here comes the tears. Kawana's dad gets really sick with stage 4 cancer. And they have this really sweet moment where she's cutting him apples and it hits her that her dad's going to die. Whenever these things happen, the waterworks just start. Like I told myself that I shouldn't cry. Like they're not even real people anyways. So why should I cry? But somehow seeing that, and thinking about all the people in my life that have been affected in a similar way, it just really gets to me. It's so cheesy, but it reminds me of how precious life really is and how even something like apples in the wintertime should be cherished. I seriously just sat in my dorm alone wiping away the tears. Lowkey glad my roommates didn't see tbh that would've been pretty embarrassing.
The real clincher was when Kawana and Ayukawa went on that trip to see the cherry blossoms on the ferris wheel and then just broke up. They were both so emotionally and physically tired and the love between them was so real that it hurt. They both kept what they were really thinking inside them and just let it happen. And just moved on. And frickin Kawana. Like I can't even blame her for being weak and dating that other guy so fast. Like I wish I could just be black and white and just mad at her for leaving Ayukawa. But she was so tired. And she felt so helpless. And she was just weak. Okay, maybe I can be pretty mad. But it's understandable and realistic and I guess I see where everyone is coming from, but it hurts. It hurts that there's no happily ever after. It hurts that they can't be together forever. And it hurts that no matter how this cookie crumbles, someone's going to get hurt. And it's so messy and so gritty and it makes my heart hurt so much and my brain so confused that I can't help, but to love it all the more.
Maybe this is just me wanting something other than finals to distract my mind, but I can't help just loving this story that's been created. It's so bad, it really is to think about this kind of thing and all the pain it brings me from an imaginary scenario, but all the same it's just wow. Even though you also probably can't afford to keep reading it past what's on the Manga Rock app (lol) I would say you should read it. I've never read anything quite like it, nor do I ever think I'll find anything quite like it, but it was a ride. Sure the protagonist was weak, but I think it's pretty realistic. I don't think that everyone can be a hero all the time. We can't be strong all the time. The world just doesn't work like that. You can hate on the manga and say that it didn't do x or y right or that you don't like the characters or the premise, but if you just take it how it is, that's an experience in and of itself.
{Spoilers}
So, as we all know by now, I'm really good at procrastinating through discovering manga. It's one of my God-given talents you could say, but it's also a tremendous time drain. But sometimes you really just find yourself in the feels so much that it doesn't even really matter that your GPA is in the pits and you're in piles of college debt :).
And so I found myself enthralled with this manga. Honestly I have no idea why it has such low ratings on MAL. Maybe it's because it doesn't portray physically disabled people well? Or maybe people don't like the way the romance is going? Because I sure as heck don't like it either. But in any case, don't let the MAL score fool you because I gave it a 10/10 no regrets, and I never rate anything on MAL.
So the premise of this manga is this girl is living on her own in Tokyo after chasing her dreams as an illustrator and ending up as an interior designer at a firm in Tokyo partnered with an architecture firm. Surprise, there's a really cute boy there that happens to be her first love from high school back in Matsumoto. He's become a fine specimen of the male variety and a successful architect at that. The only catch is that he's in a wheelchair now due to a spinal cord injury from a car accident. But even so, Kawana still falls in love with him all over again. Even though Ayukawa is still wary of love, swearing to live the rest of his life by himself in order to not cause anyone anymore pain, the two fall in love. And it's really sweet. Together they're living this life, which isn't the most perfect, but they're two really happy people in it. Except that Ayukawa keeps getting sick and Kawana isn't really able to help him in any solid way. This turns into a bigger problem as the both of them only feel useless to the other: Kawana with her lack of caretaker knowledge and Ayukawa with his physical limitations to be the perfect life partner for her. What's even more frustrating is seeing all the couples around them in a similar situation and somehow all of it working out for them.
Then, here comes the tears. Kawana's dad gets really sick with stage 4 cancer. And they have this really sweet moment where she's cutting him apples and it hits her that her dad's going to die. Whenever these things happen, the waterworks just start. Like I told myself that I shouldn't cry. Like they're not even real people anyways. So why should I cry? But somehow seeing that, and thinking about all the people in my life that have been affected in a similar way, it just really gets to me. It's so cheesy, but it reminds me of how precious life really is and how even something like apples in the wintertime should be cherished. I seriously just sat in my dorm alone wiping away the tears. Lowkey glad my roommates didn't see tbh that would've been pretty embarrassing.
The real clincher was when Kawana and Ayukawa went on that trip to see the cherry blossoms on the ferris wheel and then just broke up. They were both so emotionally and physically tired and the love between them was so real that it hurt. They both kept what they were really thinking inside them and just let it happen. And just moved on. And frickin Kawana. Like I can't even blame her for being weak and dating that other guy so fast. Like I wish I could just be black and white and just mad at her for leaving Ayukawa. But she was so tired. And she felt so helpless. And she was just weak. Okay, maybe I can be pretty mad. But it's understandable and realistic and I guess I see where everyone is coming from, but it hurts. It hurts that there's no happily ever after. It hurts that they can't be together forever. And it hurts that no matter how this cookie crumbles, someone's going to get hurt. And it's so messy and so gritty and it makes my heart hurt so much and my brain so confused that I can't help, but to love it all the more.
Maybe this is just me wanting something other than finals to distract my mind, but I can't help just loving this story that's been created. It's so bad, it really is to think about this kind of thing and all the pain it brings me from an imaginary scenario, but all the same it's just wow. Even though you also probably can't afford to keep reading it past what's on the Manga Rock app (lol) I would say you should read it. I've never read anything quite like it, nor do I ever think I'll find anything quite like it, but it was a ride. Sure the protagonist was weak, but I think it's pretty realistic. I don't think that everyone can be a hero all the time. We can't be strong all the time. The world just doesn't work like that. You can hate on the manga and say that it didn't do x or y right or that you don't like the characters or the premise, but if you just take it how it is, that's an experience in and of itself.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Manga Match 29 Hosaka-sensei no Ai no Muchi
Yep, it's me again, still procrastinating. I guess it's okay. I mean my next set of midterms start next week so...due tomorrow, do tomorrow :) (I will suffer later, but for right now this is all I want to do, which is basically equivalent to nothing if I'm being real)
I picked this manga up just looking for something to read in between classes and it was a nice, light read.
{Spoilers, I guess}
The story follows this daycare teacher with a scary face who dreams of making all the children feel happy, something that's hard to do when the kids' initial reaction to her is fear. And so Kawai-sensei has a hard time assimilating. However, her fellow daycare teacher Hosaka-sensei teachs her to converse with the children as best she can in order to form a relationship with them. At the same time, in a funny turn of events, Hosaka takes an interest in Kawai and proposes a relationship with the intent of marriage, kind of suddenly. And Kawai takes this as a joke and agrees to it. This leads to the story of how Kawai falls in love for the first time and learns that she can be loved, despite how she might seem scary to others. In fact Hosaka thinks of her as being quite cute. And that's basically the story. It's just 12 chapters of pure fluff. It's short, sweet, and it's got a good message to boot. Nothing much else to report here on the home front, boss.
And the ending is quite sweet too. The first class of children she took care of at daycare came to visit her upon graduating high school and they turned into such fine young people, lol why do I sound like such a grandma?, with dreams of their own. And it was very satisfactory.
All in all, it served its purpose to entertain me in between classes and it was quite a sweet story. Don't judge a book by its cover and allow people to follow their dreams. An oldie, but a goodie.
I picked this manga up just looking for something to read in between classes and it was a nice, light read.
{Spoilers, I guess}
The story follows this daycare teacher with a scary face who dreams of making all the children feel happy, something that's hard to do when the kids' initial reaction to her is fear. And so Kawai-sensei has a hard time assimilating. However, her fellow daycare teacher Hosaka-sensei teachs her to converse with the children as best she can in order to form a relationship with them. At the same time, in a funny turn of events, Hosaka takes an interest in Kawai and proposes a relationship with the intent of marriage, kind of suddenly. And Kawai takes this as a joke and agrees to it. This leads to the story of how Kawai falls in love for the first time and learns that she can be loved, despite how she might seem scary to others. In fact Hosaka thinks of her as being quite cute. And that's basically the story. It's just 12 chapters of pure fluff. It's short, sweet, and it's got a good message to boot. Nothing much else to report here on the home front, boss.
And the ending is quite sweet too. The first class of children she took care of at daycare came to visit her upon graduating high school and they turned into such fine young people, lol why do I sound like such a grandma?, with dreams of their own. And it was very satisfactory.
All in all, it served its purpose to entertain me in between classes and it was quite a sweet story. Don't judge a book by its cover and allow people to follow their dreams. An oldie, but a goodie.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Manga Match 27 Our Relationship Is...
So yesterday (5.16.18) I had a really sudden fever and couldn't go to any of my lectures. It was really bad. I couldn't make it to the dining commons to eat, I could barely walk to the bathroom due to nausea, the whole ordeal. But during that time I felt so extremely blessed. My friends came to the rescue; they filled my water filter even though one of them has a really intense fear of getting sick, bought me candy, and made me cup noodles (lol bc I couldn't go to dining hall). I was overwhelmed by how they poured their love onto me. If you were wondering, yes, one of my top love languages is acts of service, so I felt so incredibly loved. And some of my upperclassmen from a club I'm in messaged me as well, asking why I had missed the meeting and they too extended a helping hand. I have to constantly remind myself of all the blessings that surround me and never let go of this loving feeling. Oftentimes I get too in my head and wonder "oh, who could ever love someone like me?" or "of course no one would like me, I'm black inside" but I've been so incredibly blessed with people around me that I need to stop these mind games and just simply bask in the wonders that have been bestowed upon me.
Anyways, you came here for some diabetes through too much cute shoujo. And so I will so indulge :3 AHAHAHA Actually I came back to this manhwa. I had stopped reading because the platform I watched it on stopped updating and so I lost hope that I would ever finish it. I was so devastated because it was such a cute series with such a lovable couple that I just needed to know what happened next, but I also didn't have the monetary means with which to procure it (lol sorry this was before I had a part time job). I was so enraptured with the story of Woojin and Gayoung, that every now and then I would think about their unfinished story. I suppose this is how the readership for Fluttering Feelings feels forever. I'm sorry :(
Well, since I'm here posting this, you know I finally got to finish it!!!!!!! Hooray!~
{Spoilers}
This is the story of Woojin and Gayoung and their friendship turned relationship and all the grey areas in between. It's a story that makes your heart ache, race, leap, flip, and drop all at once throughout the entire series. There's a lot of times where the things they do have no dialogue, but are so meaningfully illustrated that it captures the mood and intention better than words could in the comic format.
Chronologically, because that's how my mind works lol, it starts off with Gayoung being bullied by her middle school classmates, she felt it was a sort of divine punishment for sitting on the sidelines when she saw other people being bullied, something she wasn't fully in control of at the time, but something she felt she has brought upon herself nonetheless. She was in group tutoring with Woojin at the same time, but the two of them weren't friends, just neutral acquaintances at best. Woojin's mom was going through a rough time, and when Woojin saw Gayoung treating his mom so nicely that changed his attitude towards that sweet little cinnamon roll and the two of them eventually became friends. And that was it. Everyone would tease them about being more than that, but the two of them stayed as steadfast friends, even though at one point Woojin was romantically interested in her. He quelled the feelings in his heart though, as nothing more than a passing fancy and the two of them individually solidified their sentiments to stay only friends to spite all the people that told them otherwise.
This happened all the way through college with Gayoung ending up Woojin's senior at university by two years because Korean boys and their mandatory army service. Anyways, the two of them end up at the same university, still at their same silly antics, except things are changing. With the two of them each pursuing other romantic interests, it somehow bothers the other that they would be spending so much time with another person, eventually making them realize that they have feelings for one another, each one denying that their feelings would ever be reciprocated. And it gets complicated oce you introduce other people's feelings like Eunji who almost went out with Woojin or Chanhee's longtime unrequited love for Gayoung. It's things like that which make it so hard, but at the same time so rewarding to finally see the two of them together. It's a beautiful thing, true love is. Especially childhood friends. Y'all already know how much I love the childhood friends trope. Maybe that's why I love this manhwa so much? And I think just their nuanced relationship and the fact that you can see from each of their perspectives and their take on the situation that just gets me that much more invested in their story.
As you can see I've been deeply moved by the story. It's so incredibly sweet, and I wouldn't mind a mini epilogue of the two of them growing old together. They're just so adorable and their dynamic is honestly one I wish to have with my future significant other (lol jk I'm forever alone). But it's overall just a good time with good feelings and if it was ever turned into a kdrama YOU KNOW WHO WOULD BE WATCHING EVER SINGLE WEEK! Read it. It's a beautiful thing. I love feelings.
And I have screenshots actually!!!!
Anyways, you came here for some diabetes through too much cute shoujo. And so I will so indulge :3 AHAHAHA Actually I came back to this manhwa. I had stopped reading because the platform I watched it on stopped updating and so I lost hope that I would ever finish it. I was so devastated because it was such a cute series with such a lovable couple that I just needed to know what happened next, but I also didn't have the monetary means with which to procure it (lol sorry this was before I had a part time job). I was so enraptured with the story of Woojin and Gayoung, that every now and then I would think about their unfinished story. I suppose this is how the readership for Fluttering Feelings feels forever. I'm sorry :(
Well, since I'm here posting this, you know I finally got to finish it!!!!!!! Hooray!~
{Spoilers}
This is the story of Woojin and Gayoung and their friendship turned relationship and all the grey areas in between. It's a story that makes your heart ache, race, leap, flip, and drop all at once throughout the entire series. There's a lot of times where the things they do have no dialogue, but are so meaningfully illustrated that it captures the mood and intention better than words could in the comic format.
Chronologically, because that's how my mind works lol, it starts off with Gayoung being bullied by her middle school classmates, she felt it was a sort of divine punishment for sitting on the sidelines when she saw other people being bullied, something she wasn't fully in control of at the time, but something she felt she has brought upon herself nonetheless. She was in group tutoring with Woojin at the same time, but the two of them weren't friends, just neutral acquaintances at best. Woojin's mom was going through a rough time, and when Woojin saw Gayoung treating his mom so nicely that changed his attitude towards that sweet little cinnamon roll and the two of them eventually became friends. And that was it. Everyone would tease them about being more than that, but the two of them stayed as steadfast friends, even though at one point Woojin was romantically interested in her. He quelled the feelings in his heart though, as nothing more than a passing fancy and the two of them individually solidified their sentiments to stay only friends to spite all the people that told them otherwise.
This happened all the way through college with Gayoung ending up Woojin's senior at university by two years because Korean boys and their mandatory army service. Anyways, the two of them end up at the same university, still at their same silly antics, except things are changing. With the two of them each pursuing other romantic interests, it somehow bothers the other that they would be spending so much time with another person, eventually making them realize that they have feelings for one another, each one denying that their feelings would ever be reciprocated. And it gets complicated oce you introduce other people's feelings like Eunji who almost went out with Woojin or Chanhee's longtime unrequited love for Gayoung. It's things like that which make it so hard, but at the same time so rewarding to finally see the two of them together. It's a beautiful thing, true love is. Especially childhood friends. Y'all already know how much I love the childhood friends trope. Maybe that's why I love this manhwa so much? And I think just their nuanced relationship and the fact that you can see from each of their perspectives and their take on the situation that just gets me that much more invested in their story.
As you can see I've been deeply moved by the story. It's so incredibly sweet, and I wouldn't mind a mini epilogue of the two of them growing old together. They're just so adorable and their dynamic is honestly one I wish to have with my future significant other (lol jk I'm forever alone). But it's overall just a good time with good feelings and if it was ever turned into a kdrama YOU KNOW WHO WOULD BE WATCHING EVER SINGLE WEEK! Read it. It's a beautiful thing. I love feelings.
And I have screenshots actually!!!!
Honestly, Chanhee was so incredibly precious. He fell for Gayoung so hard and so fast, which I have kind of mixed feelings about, but he was so pure. When he thought she had a boyfriend at the time, he was a gentleman and didn't pursue her. He just watched her from afar, which turned into a sad thing in and of itself because he watched her like he watched the subjects of his documentaries. And when he tried to force his feelings onto her as if that would change her mind he tried his hardest to learn about love, reading all those ridiculous books and treating her so well, just unable to really read the signs because he's inexperienced and Gayoung already had mixed feelings. It's just sad seeing this pure boi trying his hardest, but to no avail.
And this boi. LOL major respect for this dude as an A1 supporting character. He's honestly such a great guy and totally underrated by everyone else.
LOL they messaging each other to do a life check was something I think I'll need later on when college gets really hard. It's just things like that that're really sweet and touch my heart.
Asdfghjkl; jealous Gayoung is so precious. She wants her friends to be happy, but at the same time she's realized her feelings for Woojin and wants to be with him.
What a gentleman :') so cute holding his jacket because that's his girl. Obviously I don't approve of objectifying women, but he's just trying to protect her asdf
I wanna end with this picture because I remember the first time I read this through I actually took a screenshot of this and sent it to A. It was really funny. Oh man, this must've been in like sophomore year. Wow, what a throwback. What a mood. Pretty nostalgic really, and it also shows that my tastes haven't really changed either.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Manga Match 24 Spicy Pink
Okay so the only reason I found this manga was when I was watching a korean reality show type thing and there was one girl who said she was part of this group called Pink Spicy that never debuted and I wanted to see if I could find any videos of that, which I couldn't end up finding. What I did end up finding was this very standard manga.
{LOL it's too predictable. You don't need a warning.}
So it's basically about this shoujo mangaka Sakura and how her questionable friend persuades her to go to a mixer with her to make the numbers even, as it often goes in these kinds of scenarios, and she ends up meeting this jerk plastic surgeon. That plastic surgeon has a tragic past which includes this girl he used to love that left him for an older, rich, and abusive man. And now he's scarred. But he quickly gets over it once he falls for Sakura's charm. And that's basically the whole story. I don't think that this could constitute really as anyone's favorite manga because it was just too brief and just not the best? Like I appreciate the mangaka's intention in creating a manga like this and that if they were given more than 12 chapters for their story they could've put more thought into the character development and making the characters unique and lovable, but as it stands it's not a very memorable or noteworthy series.
One problem I've found with a lot of manga that depict romance is that oftentimes it portrays sex as the ultimate form of showing your love. Perhaps it's a cultural difference and that really is the ultimate way and only way to truly show your love to someone, and if that's true then I respect that that's how it is. But honestly I think that there's a lot of other ways besides sex that would convey love in a more heartfelt way. Because it kind of seems like the only thing that these people need is someone's shoulder to lean on and just physical things when in actuality you need your partner to be there for mental support, emotional support, and other things that aren't tangible but are extremely valuable like good communication and the like. Anyways that's just my two cents on the matter. It's been on my mind for a while.
Anyways if you're looking for a really quick read I guess you could read this, but honestly you're better off looking elsewhere for a more fleshed out story and more exciting plot. Sorry :(
{LOL it's too predictable. You don't need a warning.}
So it's basically about this shoujo mangaka Sakura and how her questionable friend persuades her to go to a mixer with her to make the numbers even, as it often goes in these kinds of scenarios, and she ends up meeting this jerk plastic surgeon. That plastic surgeon has a tragic past which includes this girl he used to love that left him for an older, rich, and abusive man. And now he's scarred. But he quickly gets over it once he falls for Sakura's charm. And that's basically the whole story. I don't think that this could constitute really as anyone's favorite manga because it was just too brief and just not the best? Like I appreciate the mangaka's intention in creating a manga like this and that if they were given more than 12 chapters for their story they could've put more thought into the character development and making the characters unique and lovable, but as it stands it's not a very memorable or noteworthy series.
One problem I've found with a lot of manga that depict romance is that oftentimes it portrays sex as the ultimate form of showing your love. Perhaps it's a cultural difference and that really is the ultimate way and only way to truly show your love to someone, and if that's true then I respect that that's how it is. But honestly I think that there's a lot of other ways besides sex that would convey love in a more heartfelt way. Because it kind of seems like the only thing that these people need is someone's shoulder to lean on and just physical things when in actuality you need your partner to be there for mental support, emotional support, and other things that aren't tangible but are extremely valuable like good communication and the like. Anyways that's just my two cents on the matter. It's been on my mind for a while.
Anyways if you're looking for a really quick read I guess you could read this, but honestly you're better off looking elsewhere for a more fleshed out story and more exciting plot. Sorry :(
Honestly this set of three images is all I needed. This was enough. This support was very nice and I appreciate it. Yes.
But I mean I'm glad they ended up happy together lol
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Manga Match 22 Kuragehime {Princess Jellyfish}
If this isn't a throwback, I don't know what is. I started reading this manga maybe 4 years ago now and accidentally discontinued it. Well, I suppose in the timing of manga I don't think it's been completed for so long that this review is now irrelevant. Or so I hope. But in any case I started this manga after having finished the anime for it. That was an extremely long time ago now, back when the series was actually on Netflix.
Pro tip: If you don't care about people looking over your shoulder (trust me, even if they do see it they won't judge, they're too stressed out about their own lives) you can read manga before lecture starts. It's pretty impossible to enjoyable watch anime before class starts unless you get there super early, but it's possible to get some chapters of manga in before class starts. This goes more for college than high school, unless you're a second semester senior. Then you should just go ham and watch seasons in class tbh.
{Spoilers}
Honestly speaking, since I reread a lot of it and it was pretty familiar, there wasn't a whole lot of shock factor in reading it again. I think most of the enjoyment for this particular series is from the transformation of the Amars and the quirky comedy that happens at Amamizukan.
The story revolves around a group of all female NEETs and their home at Amamizukan. They live their lives peacefully, living off of the fruits of their baby boom generation parents. Everything was fine until their home was put in danger. Their sanctuary was going to be fall prey to the predatory land sharks. And so their genius idea was to start a clothing line with the jellyfish motif. Well, it was mostly Kuranosuke's idea, the strange, cross-dressing son of a politician. And they go through ups and downs while trying to keep their new line afloat in the risky world of fashion held together by a motley crew of Amars.
This is very much so a manga that you read when you're looking for something light. This manga is a very slow burn, with only a few arcs. And I think the time that the creator took to build up those arcs makes them very solid and a fluid read. There's no random things thrown in, perhaps because the whole political sphere aspect was a bit strange to begin with. Or maybe it seemed like nothing was random because it was well thought out and weaved a net of its own into how a story should play out.
If you enjoy humorous and ridiculous antics I think that this would be a good read. Each of the Amars has their own interest, with Tsukimi's being jellyfish, Banba's being trains, and Jiji's being older men. Each one of these has its moments as a kind of strange gag that's both amusing and distinctive of Princess Jellyfish. I think this kind of feeling stems from the creator's personal experience. I get that feeling through her bonus pages. Many times authors will doodle in a little margin with a little blurb, but in this manga Higashimura put in interesting personal stories that made it easier to get to know her and understand her comic more deeply.
If you're wondering if this was a serious manga, sorry I'm not explaining it very well hehe I guess you'll just have to read it for full effect, it very much is so with the idea of being a princess. At the beginning of the story, Tsukimi sees Kuranosuke and her first thought is how beautiful and confident of a princess she is. She had this unfulfilled dream that one day she would grow up and be a princess, however she felt like that was never actualized because of her obsession with jellyfish, understated mannerisms, and unfashionable qualities. And realized before her was Kuranosuke, her princess. However, through time the readers, Tsukimi, and Kuranosuke are able to go through this princess transformation together and learn what it really means to be a princess starting from the inside. It might seem kind of cheesy and overly cliche, but I think we all need a reminder sometimes of what it means to be a princess and to be beautiful on the inside. I think this fairy tale quality that Kuragehime has is what sets it apart. Like it says at the end of the manga, it's not a definitive happily ever after because this is a neo-fairytale in the 21st century.
If you were looking for a modern day Cinderella story, look no further than Kuragehime. It's a great manga to read in your spare time with great pacing and easy to understand motivations. It's got eccentric characters and plot twists and even some spicy political drama (not really the last one, the politics in this are highkey a joke, I just wanted to throw that in there).
Pro tip: If you don't care about people looking over your shoulder (trust me, even if they do see it they won't judge, they're too stressed out about their own lives) you can read manga before lecture starts. It's pretty impossible to enjoyable watch anime before class starts unless you get there super early, but it's possible to get some chapters of manga in before class starts. This goes more for college than high school, unless you're a second semester senior. Then you should just go ham and watch seasons in class tbh.
{Spoilers}
Honestly speaking, since I reread a lot of it and it was pretty familiar, there wasn't a whole lot of shock factor in reading it again. I think most of the enjoyment for this particular series is from the transformation of the Amars and the quirky comedy that happens at Amamizukan.
The story revolves around a group of all female NEETs and their home at Amamizukan. They live their lives peacefully, living off of the fruits of their baby boom generation parents. Everything was fine until their home was put in danger. Their sanctuary was going to be fall prey to the predatory land sharks. And so their genius idea was to start a clothing line with the jellyfish motif. Well, it was mostly Kuranosuke's idea, the strange, cross-dressing son of a politician. And they go through ups and downs while trying to keep their new line afloat in the risky world of fashion held together by a motley crew of Amars.
This is very much so a manga that you read when you're looking for something light. This manga is a very slow burn, with only a few arcs. And I think the time that the creator took to build up those arcs makes them very solid and a fluid read. There's no random things thrown in, perhaps because the whole political sphere aspect was a bit strange to begin with. Or maybe it seemed like nothing was random because it was well thought out and weaved a net of its own into how a story should play out.
If you enjoy humorous and ridiculous antics I think that this would be a good read. Each of the Amars has their own interest, with Tsukimi's being jellyfish, Banba's being trains, and Jiji's being older men. Each one of these has its moments as a kind of strange gag that's both amusing and distinctive of Princess Jellyfish. I think this kind of feeling stems from the creator's personal experience. I get that feeling through her bonus pages. Many times authors will doodle in a little margin with a little blurb, but in this manga Higashimura put in interesting personal stories that made it easier to get to know her and understand her comic more deeply.
If you're wondering if this was a serious manga, sorry I'm not explaining it very well hehe I guess you'll just have to read it for full effect, it very much is so with the idea of being a princess. At the beginning of the story, Tsukimi sees Kuranosuke and her first thought is how beautiful and confident of a princess she is. She had this unfulfilled dream that one day she would grow up and be a princess, however she felt like that was never actualized because of her obsession with jellyfish, understated mannerisms, and unfashionable qualities. And realized before her was Kuranosuke, her princess. However, through time the readers, Tsukimi, and Kuranosuke are able to go through this princess transformation together and learn what it really means to be a princess starting from the inside. It might seem kind of cheesy and overly cliche, but I think we all need a reminder sometimes of what it means to be a princess and to be beautiful on the inside. I think this fairy tale quality that Kuragehime has is what sets it apart. Like it says at the end of the manga, it's not a definitive happily ever after because this is a neo-fairytale in the 21st century.
If you were looking for a modern day Cinderella story, look no further than Kuragehime. It's a great manga to read in your spare time with great pacing and easy to understand motivations. It's got eccentric characters and plot twists and even some spicy political drama (not really the last one, the politics in this are highkey a joke, I just wanted to throw that in there).
I don't know why, but I really like when this happens. It reminds me of the creation of the universe memes. Do you know the one I'm referring to?
It's kind of interesting how at the beginning Kuranosuke's all about changing your outward appearance, but in the end he's able to see and appreciate inner beauty as well
Ah, did I mention the understated love triangle? Admittedly when I was younger that's the main reason I read along with this manga hehe
We can't forget about Hanamori, our favorite human trash. JK in any other context he'd be such a sleazebag tbh
Look at this beautiful princess T^T
But why? Why does it need to be this way?
The movement in these three panels is honestly breathtaking. Reading through it and seeing and experiencing the motion that Tsukimi's feeling is really powerful
I don't know whether I should feel sorry for Kai, or for Hwayoung, or for both of them? It's a hard call, but definitely worth pondering.
And Clara our favorite little narrator :')
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)