Manga Match 99 Tonari wa Nani wo Kuu Hito zo

Truthfully, this manga has been repeatedly recommended to me on the MangaRock app, but it never appealed to me. The premise of a girl relying on her neighbor's cooking didn't really interest me. But, I started to run out of interesting things to read so I thought I'd give this a shot. Plot twist: it turned out to be really good. There's definitely a time and place for manga that're like 4 chapters long or manga that's over 100 chapters long, but this one with 14 chapters hits the sweet spot of it could take you two days to get through of you could binge it in one. And I was just in the mood for that kinda thing. So this came at a perfect time really.

{Spoilers, but it's shoujo/SoL so don't worry}

Suzuna has lived her whole adolescent life up until this point without friends in some farming town. After living like this, she realizes that it's time to make her college debut so she works really hard and moves to Tokyo for college for her new exciting life to start. Except she never learned how to cook or actually take care of herself, so if her next-door neighbor hadn't checked up on her she probably would've died. Thank god for Seto. He's Suzuna's next-door neighbor and happens to be in the same department and year as her. He helps her learn how to cook in exchange for some of the fresh produce her parents send her from their farm. It's a very domestic manga with lots of cooking montages and SoL arcs like club circle activities, sakura picnic-going, and a vacation in a rich friend's house. And of course there so happens to bloom a very cute and subtle love between Suzuna and Seto. It was an especially satisfactory romance to watch since at the beginning Seto was set on Suzuna not being his type and Suzuna seeing him as more of a teacher than love interest, though slowly and sure things started to change and it was really cute. Especially as Suzuna started to show more interest in him and he kept giving her really non-romantic things like the edamame plant for her birthday and soy sauce as a white gift. Is this what they call gap moe? Not sure.

Overall, a really solid short read. You might learn some cooking tips as well! So this is an educational read you could say :) And I would recommend it since it's a pretty natural progression of their romance and a good slice of life to get you feeling kinda nostalgic/anticipatory about college (depending on how old you are).

Manga Match 98 Yumiero Patissiere

This was one of the first anime that I remember watching and it heavily influenced my desire as a child to become a patissiere just like Ichigo. When I grew up I realized that baking was more of a hobby than a career for me. And especially since I've seen so many amazing baked creations and such on Instagram, I'm really glad I didn't go to college for a business degree. LOL I wanted to be a business major so I could really run my own baking business. I think we dodged a bullet there.

The manga version of Yumiero Patissiere is a little different from the anime. In the anime, the romance was definitely left more open-ended from my memory so that they could make that sequel where they're all adults. But all of the characters are pretty much the same and the story follows very true to the anime. So really I didn't read it for anything new, I read it for some sort of creature comfort I would say.

The manga and anime both follow this girl with an incredible sense of taste which goes along well with her creative imagination. She's scouted by one of the best pastry chefs in the world and ends up going to this super elite baking academy called St. Marie Academy. There she meets Kashino, Hanabusa, and Andou aka the Sweets Princes. She's thrust into this world and has to work really hard at practicing her baking skills to catch up to everyone else. Thanks to her hard work and practice she's able to flourish at the Academy despite her klutzy nature.

There's definitely a level of fantastical magic going on here with the element of Sweets Spirits. The Academy is actually connected to the Sweets Kingdom which is this lovely magical world where little fairies make sweets and come to the human world to apprentice with the dream of becoming Royal Patissieres.

And the story basically just follows the main four and their sweets spirits as they all work hard for their dreams. There's nothing more I could ever desire. Maybe it's just because of the nostalgic aspect, but I felt very satisfied reading the whole thing through. If you're also interested in baking or like rather fantastical works, I would say this is a good read. It's definitely very shoujo-y, but it's also inspiring to see how far imagination and hard work can take you. Just a very comfy read that gets you though the tough times.

Manga Match 97 More Various Manga I've Read

Pardon if my review seems a bit lackluster, but I'm just trying to wrap up loose ends while I still have time and to go into the new year fresh.

Shinobi Quartet
Ninja reverse harem with a rich daughter that all of them want to protect

:) I hope that this is enough of a synopsis for you to gauge if you want to read it.

It's cute if you're into those otome games where there's various capture targets and they all pretty much like you. I haven't looked that much into it, but if it was based off an otome game I wouldn't be surprised.


I'm a Villainous Daughter so I'm Going to Keep the Last Boss
This is another story with that josei isekai thing going on. This girl reincarnates into her otome game as the villain Irene. She realizes that the way to avoid her bad endings and dying essentially is to capture the Demon King Claude as her own. Along the way she does what every girl in these isekai does and charms everyone with her otherworldliness (surprise surprise) and improves the living conditions of the land. It's surprising how many of these people make soap as the thing they sell in these new worlds, although it does make sense for hygiene reasons. Long story short she ends up in a  fairytale romance with Demon King Claude and they live happily ever after. And Claude is a very wholesome and lovable boy. :)


My Male Friend
This is a Korean manhwa about my favorite trope, say it together with me everyone, the childhood friend trope. It gave me a lot to think about. And it's very very cute. I love this kind of manhwa feeling, it makes me vaguely reminisce about Our Relationship is if you know that manhwa as well.


Mainichi Kiss Shite Ii Desu ka?
Apparently I also read this but never reviewed it. Oops. But it was alright, nothing to write home about.

Manga Match 96 No Longer Heroine

I think I just have a problem where if the manga's morality/believable nature is bad enough, I can't put it down. That's exactly what happened with this manga. Because I think if you've read enough shoujo, you start to put yourself in the main heroine's shoes. That's where the idea of this manga stems from. You believe you're this fairytale perfect heroine that's super righteous and always immaculately beautiful, gracious, and perfect both inside and out. Obviously though we're not all the main heroine of a shoujo manga for one reason or another. So this manga explores the reality of being grounded and not allowing yourself to be swept up in these delusions.

{Spoilers}

The story follows this girl named Hatori that thinks shes the main heroine in this made up love story she came up with in her head between her longtime friend Rita and herself. Rita goes out with any girl that shows interest in him just about, but Hatori plays this off as if it's no big deal. After all, she always tells herself, the end game will be between herself and Rita after all. But in life, there's never any guarantees. Rita ends up falling in love with an unlikely "side character" named Adachi. Their relationship is super wholesome with the cliche "boy protects meek nerdy girl from being bullied and teaches her to love herself" kind of arc. Hatori, of course, sees this and immediately feels threatened. Here comes a genuine heroine that loves Rita, even if she's a bit submissive, and they're living happily. Hatori's place in Rita's life is being claimed by Adachi inch by inch.

Hatori is also kind of a jerk. When she feels her place being threatened, she doggedly pursues Rita, confessing her love finally because she can't stand to see her place being overtaken by this random girl. And I think if you've ever had an unrequited love and were ever too scared to confess, you can really sympathize with Hatori. Of course the way she goes about it is incredibly immoral, but somehow you can't help but feel bad for her in these times of desperation. At least I can, a little oop.

Then along comes another variable to mess things up even more, playboy Hiromitsu. He comes into the picture as this playboy that'll help Hatori forget all about her love woes. And while Hatori's busy trying to suppress her feelings for Rita finally, Rita and Hiromitsu both catch feels for this dumb girl. Okay, I say dumb girl, but please don't take offense. She's just trying her best to forget Rita, even though she obviously can't because she keeps going back to him which just hurts Hiromitsu who genuinely fell in love with her more.

In between this time and the end is this sort of tug of war with Hatori. On one hand, Rita finally loves her back. On the other, she's got this sweet patient boy Hiromitsu who genuinely loves her and wants to treat her right. Maybe I've just got serious sympathy for the second leads, but Hiromitsu is such a nice boy, so why can't Hatori see that?

By the end of the story, Hiromitsu's let go of possibly the first girl he ever truly loved. Adachi realized she can find her own happiness and can be loved. And Rita and Hatori lived happily ever after in their idiotic couple world. Obviously there was a lot more turmoil involved that gave me lots of secondhand stress, but that was the gist of it.

Shoutout to Nakajima for being honestly too good of a friend to Hatori. Even when she kinda caught feels for Rita, she realized what was happening. And she was always so patient and loving towards Hatori, even if it was displayed through lots of tough love. She was the realest one.

Overall, if you've ever felt like shoujo was getting kinda stale and you're looking for a spicy story that's in the same vein as shoujo but a new spin to it, I'd say check this manga out. There's many questionable twists and turns in the story that'll keep you hooked.

Manga Match 95 Happy Cafe

Truly I've been reading this manga that was completed already over a decade ago for a while now. I think I had started it when I was in a place where I just wanted to read something fluffy and completed to distract me from the stressors of daily life I'd been facing during the quarter what with moving in, settling down, learning how to live by myself, how to properly budget but also treat myself well, and how to deal with the massive workload I gave myself. I'm pleased to say that I was able to accomplish all of that with average success, but this was at the expense of my anime/manga time. So, only just now, have I finished this long manga. 

If you're looking for something that's pretty wholesome and is able to distract you momentarily from the stress of living in this world, this is the manga for you. It follows this girl named Uru who's in high school and works part time at a cafe run by two ikemen Shindo and Ichiro. Uru has recently moved out of her mom's house and knows straight away that she wants to work at this cafe because the cakes made by Shindo always fill her with a sense of happiness she wants to give to the world as well. She's the human embodiment of "happy-go-lucky" and nothing much changes throughout the series, except for maybe the arc where the true cause of her father's death comes to light. Other than that, her happy-go-lucky attitude is her driving force throughout the series to act as the glue for all of the cafe customers. In fact, if she wasn't exactly the way she is, I think it'd be hard for so many of the problems the customers came in with to be resolved. Basically, this manga just follows their daily lives in the cafe, as neighbors, and as normal people puzzling out their place in the world. 

And since it's shoujo it always flirts around with this idea of romance among the cafe workers, but we can kind of set that aside, since Shindo is practically handed the title of "main love interest" from the get-go. 

Overall, it's a wholesome manga that adds that little bit of brightness to an otherwise harsh day. I think we could all benefit from internalizing a little bit of Uru's cheer. 

Manga Match 93 Cardcaptor Sakura

This is a real childhood nostalgia moment for me. When I was in elementary school, before I knew anything about the world of anime and manga, I went to the bookstore with my grandparents and encountered Cardcaptor Sakura in the form of this tome of comics that you read from right to left. I didn't know what manga was and I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I really liked that book. I liked it so much that I tried to find more online and I found these random, really poor quality rips of the anime on Youtube or something and watched those. But then someone took them down I think so that was the short life of my independently discovered love of this manga. 

Fast forward like 10 years and I finally finished the manga. To be honest, I think I had the second or third volume of the manga all along, because only halfway through did things start to look familiar and it made sense why I was always so confused over what was happening. 

{Spoilers, but it's pretty cutesy so not a whole lot of plot twist}

As we all know, Cardcaptor Sakura is a magical girl manga created by the iconic CLAMP. It centers around this elementary school girl Sakura and her quest commissioned by Kero-chan (aka Kerberos) to capture all the unruly Clow Cards wreaking havoc on her city. Clow Cards are kind of like spirits trapped inside each of the cards with a different power such as illusion or fire and were all created by this famous powerful magician named Clow Reed. Sakura goes around with her friend Tomoyo and later on Shaoran to capture the cards. This is the basic summary of the first arc anyway. In the second arc, Clow Reed's presence is mysteriously felt after the Clow Cards have been captured and mischief is afoot once again in the city. To deal with this new obstacle, Sakura changes the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards and becomes more powerful along the way. At the pinnacle of this second arc, Clow reveals himself to be reincarnated as Eriol, a transfer student in Sakura's class. He needed Sakura to gain magical strength in order to split his magic into two so that he was no longer the most powerful magician and could live a normal life. 

While the plot may seem a little bit childish and like every hero story, I think there's a bit of charm to be found in the whimsy of childhood found in this manga. Because it centers around elementary school children there's lots of wonder and innocence to be found. And there's quite a bit of diversity in terms of Yukito and Touya being a canon ship as well as Tomoyo's unrequited love for Sakura. 

Maybe I'm just partial due to the childhood nostalgia factor, but this was such a fun read. It really brought me back to my little magical girl stint and made me really appreciate the genre once again. I think it's obvious that I'd say you should read the manga. It's full of a little girl with a can-do and hopeful spirit saving the world and all of her friends supporting her along the way. It's wholesome and whimsical and delightful beyond words and I think if you like my recommendations, you'll find this one to your liking as well!

Manga Match 92 Heavy Object + Itsuka no Haru

I don't want to spend too much time talking about Heavy Object. It was slightly perverse with a really rushed plot that randomly took place in Alaska with a few heroic individuals and was altogether just ok. I think V thought it was worth a go since my unexpected genre that I enjoy is mecha. But...these mechs weren't super cool. It was just ok. 

Would I recommend this? I'd say that maybe because of how short it was, 5 chapters, maybe it's worth a quick read? But honestly they reach a little too far for my liking for the jokes and it was pretty rushed. So otherwise, I think you can find some anime at least that are a lot better (haven't really gotten into mecha manga much yet so I can't vouch for that medium but I'd assume as well that the longer series are probably more worth it in terms of return on investment).

The next manga I want to talk about it Itsuka no Haru. I know how in After the Rain I kind of bashed the age gap. I think it's just because they're in such different places in their lives that it just seemed a little bit of a stretch. But in this one, I guess the age gap is a little less so it's kind of ok? Maybe I'm just trying to justify myself here. Anyways, this is a short little story of Yui and how she helps her classmate that's actually 10 years older than anyone in her class experience his youth. It's a bit touching when they explain that Itsuka had to drop out of high school in order to take over his family's soy sauce company after his parents pass in order to carry on the tradition and provide for his family. I think I just have a soft spot for these kinds of touching backstories that just add to a character's dimension though. In general, the story is kind of basic, but it's just really cute to see this guy that was robbed of his high school life get to go back and reclaim his youth in a way. And the romance is just an added bonus hehe. I know, I'm just shoujo trash, whatever!

And would I recommend this? Yeah I think that it's pretty cute and a short read for some quick doki-dokis. Hmmm...comparing the two manga of similar length with different content...I wonder if I'm biased hehe whatever.

Manga Match 91 Various Manga I've Completed

Here's a compilation of manga that I've read that haven't left enough of an impact on me for them to receive separate posts about them. This could be entirely because I've forgotten to do a post for them right after completion (this is actually the case but I'm trying to justify my actions) or because they didn't inspire me to write a post about them up until now. 

First we're going to start off with one that's actually a completed version of this newer subgenre of isekai where it's usually a girl that dies and is reborn into an otome game or a fantasy world where magic is real. Yeah, from my brief description it doesn't seem all that interesting, but I've really enjoyed discovering new isekai from a female's perspective. The only downside is that I think that this subgenre has only caught on recently, and thus there aren't many that are completed. This is one of the few that are. It's called Eh? Heibon Desu yo?? which is an interesting title in and of itself with the punctuation and colloquial nature of it.

It follows the rebirth of this ordinary schoolgirl from Japan that dies in a tragic accident and by "transmigration" ends up reborn as a baby in this fantasy land as the daughter of a count. Her father looks after the surrounding land and she uses knowledge from her past life in order to improve life in this new world. That's basically it. She teaches them things like how to increase crop productivity and about prenatal care, as well as alternative cooking techniques. It's a pretty mundane (in a good way) isekai about this little girl trying to do her best for everyone in the surrounding area. There is this one part that focuses on how OP her powers are, but overall it's just a very cute and calm story.

I'd say that if you're looking to be introduced into this new subgenre or you're like me and you're head over heels for this type of isekai and are looking for a completed one that this is a good read. It's 18 chapters so it's relatively short and it's lowkey realistic too with some pretty cute worldbuilding aspects as well.

This second manga is called Kaichou-kun no Shimobe and it features a closet otaku girl that lives a humble life, Hirayama, and a two-faced popular school president that's secretly the next head of the yakuza, Kujou. The story itself reminds me a little bit of Wolf Girl Black Prince, but with less romance and more conflict between the two main characters. This one is definitely more of a comedy with Kujou being almost a completely delusional idiot. Despite his outward appearance of someone put together and cool, Kujou is actually directionally challenged, not good at fighting, unable to swim, and is full of himself among other questionable character attributes. Hirayama on the other hand is a hard-working girl that just wants to draw her fan manga for Comiket and such, but doesn't want to be exposed at school for being an otaku so she's basically enslaved by Kujou. The story loosely follows Kujou's journey to become less of a self-entitled brat, as well as a spicy little subplot in there about how Hirayama and Kujou first met as children and led Kujou to believe that she was his fated fiancee through a tragic misunderstanding on his part.

I'd recommend it if you're looking for something that's definitely more of a comedy and if you get a kick out of kinda dumb characters like Kujou. I think that you'll find the yakuza portion of the story surprising as well. There's not a heavy plotline to follow or anything, but it's an interesting read.

The third manga was quite surprising. I think I found out about it through a collection of manga focusing on the theme of aliens. It reminds me kind of that series by Stephanie Meyer's The Host (yes I know the author of Twilight whatever) with the whole aliens taking over the bodies of humans thing. It focused on this girl named Chiyo and this popular guy she has a crush on named Tsubaki. The relationship between the two is just one sided love on Chiyo's part with Tsubaki treating her like the mortal enemy. This seems like the normal set up for a shoujo, but there's a twist when, due to various circumstances, an alien comes to inhabit Tsubaki's body. The alien goes by the name of Shin-sama and when Shin-sama is in control of the body Tsubaki doesn't remember any of what occurs during that time. Chiyo is conflicted because Shin-sama looks like Tsubaki and is actually nice to her which is kind of a dream come true. The only catch is that Tsubaki dies a little more the longer Shin-sama inhabits the body. And so, eventually the romance between Shin-sama and Chiyo is cut short as Shin-sama's friend's UFO comes to take him(?) away. And Tsubaki has changed too and become less of a jerk and more of a sweet and sensitive dude. So then Chiyo and Tsubaki end up going out...which I don't really know how I feel about this whole thing. And Shin-sama comes back to Earth and possesses a dog, only to see Chiyo end up with Tsubaki, the guy she's liked all along. And I really felt for Shin-sama because he loved Chiyo, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

It really was a wack manga. There were so many times I thought to myself "wtf am I reading?" in a good way. The feeling I got from the story itself was also super intriguing. The art style was a little strange for my tastes, but I think that's just the style from that time. I'd really recommend it. It's a short 7 chapter read for something that's very unique.

Manga Match 89 Hana to Shinobi

We've already long established my affinity to stories where the main couple is a pair of childhood friends. This manga is no exception. It wormed its way into my heart just because of this. Aiya, it wasn't that great, but just because they were childhood friends I enjoyed it.

{Spoilers, except it's shoujo so you know what end game is}

This story revolves around a rich ojou-sama Benio and her uber-traditional family. There's a tradition in her family that whoever steals her first kiss will be the one to marry her and inherit her family's fortune. For this reason and all the threats upon her life, Benio has spent the first 15 years of her life having never stepped foot outside. Her most treasured memory is of her making a promise with her childhood friend to live together forever. However, she can't remember what happened to her childhood friend after that because of traumatic experiences in her life. She sent lots of letters to him, but there was never any response besides marigolds in her mailbox.

Benio's grown up and wants to go to high school and have an ordinary "youthful high school" experience. Her uncle's condition is to have Tamaki be her personal ninja and protect her lips. Thus is born the iconic duo of a day-dreaming rich heiress and a playboy ninja. They go through many trials together with various people taking advantage of Benio's naivety to take a stab at her fortune. Every time, Tamaki is there to protect her and Benio slowly falls in love with this unexpected love interest.

Hehe, later it's revealed that Tamaki is Benio's lost playmate who left her to train to be a ninja worthy to serve her. This led to the two's mutual love to be brought to light, however it's taboo in this world for master and ninja to be together. Some wild as heck stuff happens, but the two live happily ever after. And for this I'm very much so glad. Just seeing childhood friends get together and live and love freely is some really wholesome content I signed up for. Would recommend.

I'm losing steam since this is the third review I'm writing in a row, so for now goodbye!

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 87 Manga Dogs

Welcome to my first post of 2020. Currently it's not yet 2020, haha I'm writing these in advance as I finish up some bits and bobs of manga and anime throughout my summer. As my summer classes have wound down and my internship only sporadically assigns me stuff, I'm able to read a lot more and...uh I guess this means I have time to watch a lot more but I'm in a mental block now when it comes to manga. *wheeze*

{Spoilers, except it's really short and more slice-of-lifey rather than plot-heavy}

So, this story follows a girl who's enrolled in a high school that recently launched a track for people interested in becoming mangakas. Honestly the only reason that Kanna enrolled in the school is to have more time for her recently debuted manga Teach Me Buddha. Yes, I do acknowledge that the title is wack and the little inserts of Kanna's manga that the author puts into the actual manga is even more wack. I'd say it's so incredulous that you might want to read the manga just to see these parody clips of her manga. With the help of her joke of an editor, they've certainly turned into a beast of their own.

Between Kanna's genius plan to go to school and work on her manga and antisocial nature, she's not really looking to get a slice-of-life "we love high school and youth" experience out of high school. She's more so looking towards her future of being a professional mangaka and somehow getting her manga out of the bottom rankings of the magazine. This turns out to be difficult when the three other guys that are in her manga-track class start to bother her, calling her Sensei and asking her for advice on being a professional mangaka...all without any of them having any practical experience in basically anything. Whenever there's a contest for making manga, none of them are ever motivated to finish a four panel comic even. But, I think that's part of the charm of this manga, is that the three of these boys aren't there to become professional mangaka per say, but more so there for the experience of youth and to express their love of manga.

Would I say that there's a ton of plot and much of a reason to know everyone's names? Absolutely not. This is an almost entirely fluffy manga that relies on ikemen and bizarre situations to keep you engaged. You can imagine those anime where the main character is totally uninterested in high school and then gets pulled into the whole experience by being forced to join a club or something like that. This gives off the same feeling with extremely wack characters that keep the manga interesting.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Yeah, if the friend were a little down in the dumps and looking for something funny to keep them entertained. Truth be told, I had started this manga before, but dropped it because I just didn't find it engaging enough amidst all of the other manga I was reading. However, I've been going through a mini-kick of manga that are about manga. The inception kind of draws me in and it's funny seeing how mangaka tell the story of their kinda daily lives in terms of the realities of their profession and such. Also, the side panels that are reserved for the mangaka were translated in the scanlation I read and the mangaka is really funny as well. So, it's a good laugh with not a whole lot of plot. But I would still recommend!

Manga Match 84 Nekota no Koto ga Kininatte Shikatanai

Forget whatever I said about being over shoujo and moving on towards josei. I've come to realize that I might never grow out of shoujo. Is this a bad thing? Should I be concerned for my stunted maturity? I don't know. All I know is that when I drop my younger sister off at camp or swimming I always 100% of the time get mistaken by at least one teacher as her mother. So I must in fact look like a 38 year old soccer mom when in fact I'll only be 20 years old. How lovely. But that's another story.

{Spoilers}

The reason I say that I'll never get over shoujo is not just a gross blanket statement to cover up my lack of romantic maturity. In actuality, it was because I was so charmed by this manga. It's not like it wasn't anything I had never seen before...actually that's a lie. The story revolves around the constant mystery of what Nekota's face actually looks like. To everyone besides Mikiko, Nekota looks like a perfectly normal kid, but for some reason Mikiko can't see it? They never really explain why she wasn't able to see his head, which leaves you to wonder if it was fantasy or perhaps her coping with her mental state.

It was an incredibly touching manga. It wasn't anything ground-breaking, but there's just something about the innocence of childhood romance that really ticks all the boxes for me. The story itself starts when our main characters are all in sixth grade. They're all super small and really just children that have yet to experience growing up yet. And there's something really nostalgic about that feeling of being in elementary school and just having fun playing with your friends. It's especially heartwarming when you realize that it's Mikiko's first time making friends since she's constantly had to move and thus voluntarily(?) isolates herself from the other kids. So, at this school with friendly people and a cat-faced classmate, Mikiko is able to have fun playing dodgeball with everyone, giving out Valentines, and going on class trips together. Again, I know it's nothing revolutionary, but the way the story is told and the whole persona of Mikiko makes you fall just a little bit in love.

Lowkey though I read this so fast because I just wanted to see Nekota's face.

The most frustrating part of reading this manga was how close Mikiko always got to seeing Nekota's face. I mean we met his little sister who apparently looks like him, but it's not exactly the same thing. And it's not exactly crystal clear how Mikiko is able to see his face in the end, maybe it's because she realizes that Nekota was her childhood friend? Maybe it's because she realized her romantic feelings for him? In any case it's really pure when she realizes that she's loved him for so long without realizing it.

I think if you were their age and transitioning from sixth grade to middle school alongside them, it would be a really relatable experience. Like when Mikiko is going to middle school and she realizes how everyone's growing up and becoming different than when they were children and how she had to cope with that realization that nothing was stagnant. I think that's the thought we all have when we experience puberty and adolescence. There's this sense of inexplicable loss for something you didn't know that you had. But this opens up new avenues in their lives for each of the characters to discover a little bit more about themselves and to unpack their new-found feelings. Especially Nekota and Mikiko.

Honestly this manga really brought me back to how pure young love is. They're so cute with how they treat one another and the whole dynamic of their romance. It's hard to explain, so you should just read the manga yourself and develop the uwu's as well hehe.

Would I recommend this manga? For sure. It's got a really well-developed story with an energetic cast that you can watch grow up throughout the volumes. It's not solely about romance like some shoujo, but also has solid explorations of themes like friendship as well.

Manga Match 83 Liar x Liar

Yesterday I had a whirlwind day of going out of my comfort zone and socializing. It was mentally exhausting and I almost fell asleep on the train home, but it made me feel really great that I was able to overcome this thing that might seem like no big deal for most people. It's times like these that I really curse how bad my anxiety can get. I did a lot that day beforehand to mentally prepare, doing things like meditating, chores, and random things on my to do list, but I still had all of these useless worries. Hopefully in time I can learn to better manage these irrational anxieties.

But you're probably not here for check-ins on my mental health. You're here for manga. 

{Spoilers}

Wowowowow this was a pretty spicy one I'll have to admit. I started this one not thinking very much of it. I thought it was a cheesy title and a stupid concept. And then I ended up staying up until almost 4 AM reading it the first night. I finished all 70 ish chapters in 2 days. It was crazy. And it's honestly because lying and the consequential lies being snowballed towards disaster is just so addicting to read. It's frustrating, but also unbelievably addicting. This was lowkey like when I reviewed that True Love incest manga, except instead of actual incest it's step-siblings so it made me feel better inside for reading it. A little bit. I dunno, you can form your own opinion on step-siblings getting married and whatever, I'm not really sure how that sort of stuff works legally. 

Anyways, the story revolves around two step-siblings and their rocky relationship. Minato, our 20 year old college student, decides to take her friend Maki's old high school uniform out on the town. Tragically she runs into her step-brother Tooru who's the same age as her, and in the heat of the moment and embarrassed to be caught in a high school uniform, lies about her identity. Thus, Mina the second year high schooler is born. Tooru shockingly asks Mina out on the spot and seriously pursues her. This is definitely uncharacteristic of this guy that Minato's only known as a playboy that sleeps around and dates any girl that asks him to. And so, in her attempt to reform him, Minato plays Mina in order to demonstrate the benefits of dating one girl in a wholesome relationship. Unfortunately, along the way, she falls in love with him as herself. 

There's this whole arc of inner turmoil within Minato as she's coming to terms with her feelings for Tooru as her ex-boyfriend who she got along with so well, tries to form a rift between Minato and Tooru by calling their relationship disgusting. Obviously he only does this out of frustration and grief over how his relationship with Minato doesn't go so well, but it's a pretty painful arc. 

However, after the storm is always a rainbow. And so, Minato finally comes to terms with her love for Tooru. At the same time, she discovers that Tooru has loved Minato ever since they were children. In fact, when Minato reveals that she was Mina the whole time, he accepted the lie for what it was and loved Minato anyways. I'm not saying that this is how you should live your life by trusting liars and whatnot, but it was just a really touching scene.

Also shoutout to my girl Mika. Honestly Minato's pretty dumb. I don't know how she's gotten this far in life with how often she digs these tragic holes of lies for herself. Without Mika she surely would've crumbled a lot sooner, but Mika was always there to support her. 

My crappy synopsis was obviously super short and doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you read the whole thing, but along the way Minato actually becomes really popular. With like 2 other guys. A sudden college debut some might say. And I think each of these separate arcs with the lies getting messier and messier and the whole thing spiraling into an unknown territory made the whole thing really interesting because you didn't have any idea where the story would go next. 

If you can handle a lot of frustration because our main girl is kind of an airhead and the tension that all of the lies and difficult situations she gets into I think this is a fantastic read. There's so much drama and so many layers to unpack. And so many fun memories that if you haven't gone to college yet, that you can look forward to in terms of finding a fun circle of people that enjoy similar interests as you. Or if you're in college or have since graduated from college, I think this is a fun manga that shows the shenanigans that we all get up to with our college friends in one way or another. There's lots of fun scenarios and characters in the manga. And I love how the mangaka chose to close out the last volume with some stories about other characters besides Minato and Tooru to give a more well-rounded feel to the series as a whole. It was good, really good. 

Manga Match 81 Mademoiselle Butterfly

On the MangaRock app, they have these categories about like historical shoujo or about geisha in the red light district or something along those lines. For some reason I'm really attracted to them lately. Not in like a perverse way or anything weird like that, but just the stories they tell and the vibe of them is really interesting to me. I'm sure I'll get over this weird stage soon enough, but they're just really different. You should really try to read one, they're pretty good.

{Spoilers and there's an actual plot this time}

This takes place in the Showa era where it was still common for girls of poor families to be sold off as geishas. Our main character, Butterfly, yes her name is Butterfly, is a young girl who befriends the neighboring tattoo artist Chinatsu. All this time, Butterfly has constantly bothered this guy while he's working and just whenever because he's literally right next door. You can already see where this is going. And you can already tell I like it because it's my favorite childhood friend trope. Anyways, as Butterfly grows up, she begins to realize that her feelings for Chinatsu go beyond just friends. This climaxes when Butterfly gets sold to some random visiting European dude and she solidifies her feelings for Chinatsu. Eventually she gets returned because Chinatsu bought her back or something, I don't really know how this all happened. This transaction and seeing Butterfly's love for him, confirmed Chinatsu's feelings as well that Butterfly was no longer an innocent child. You start to see this transition within him because before, when she was a child, Butterfly would always ask for a tattoo but Chinatsu would only paint with ink on top of her skin. However, when he realizes his feelings for her, he then accepts that she wants to be tattooed and then gives her a beautiful butterfly tattoo. And honestly it's pretty wholesome because he treasures her so much, even though this frustrates her that he treats her as a child under his care rather than as a love interest. But this just makes it cuter somehow? I dunno, it's hard to explain which is why you should just read it for yourself and see!

The main point of this manga, or the climax I guess, was when Chinatsu was drafted to fight in the war. At the time, Butterfly became pregnant and they had to separate for a while, with Butterfly safe in her father-in-law's house. And at one point they believed Chinatsu to be dead. But don't worry! There's a happy ending to the story. Chinatsu comes back from the war, physically unscathed and the family is reunited!

I would definitely recommend the manga. It's pretty wholesome and sweet, with Butterfly not being incredibly annoying, and all of the characters being really sincere and consistent with their character motivations and actions and everything like that. For a 10 chapter work it's incredibly well-done and somehow really endearing.

Manga Match 79 Mune ga Naru no wa Kimi no Sei // & a short aside about the importance of shoujo manga

I really should've reviewed this manga before I forgot all about it. I wasn't forgetful necessarily because I was busy, in fact I could do with some more busywork. But because I had some time to fill I just kept adding to my list of manga until I could no longer keep a lot of them straight. Such is the life of a manga glutton :')

{No spoilers because I forgot a lot of it}

I guess if I were to sum up the whole manga I'd say it's just a compilation or rather the model for your stereotypical shoujo manga. It's got the hard-working and sweet protagonist Tsukasa and the tall, dark, and handsome love interest that comes to her rescue, Arima. And then you've got kind of my least favorite additions to the love triangle, or in this case a love square (is it a love square because both of them have someone that's crushing on them? or two separate love triangle?). I see least favorite because I hate seeing the manipulative ex's like Arima's ex that totally uses her accident as an excuse to get back together with Arima. And then the playboy time which is the epitome of the guy pursuing Tsukasa...I guess sometimes the playboy trope is...ok? Actually I'm not even sure if it is, but if you ever meet someone like him in real life please run away. I'm worried for your safety. 

Would I recommend this manga? Maybe if you've never read a shoujo manga before and you want the most vanilla one out there just to test it out. But otherwise, I would say that even if you're starting out with shoujo, you won't really know what you want or what you like unless you experiment. Do you like forbidden love? Do you like love triangles? Do you want it to be a high school setting for some slice of life/school life? Do you like a more jokester love interest? Do you want it to be more wholesome? Do you like perhaps a tragedy? A comedy? 

Oftentimes I think shoujo is something written off as childish and full of like unrealistic moments that make your heart race, and yeah sure maybe shoujo is a little like that. But I also feel like it allows you to have a lot of different experiences you wouldn't have otherwise been able to have. And it's just fun to read! To live vicariously through some pages and dream some unrealistic dreams sometimes. 

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.

Manga Match 77 Nakanmon!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Manga Match 76 Akuma to Dolce

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

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

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

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

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

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 74 True Love

If you're looking for one of the most wack and morally questionable manga with lowkey the weakest female protagonist and most contradictory male protagonist with actually morally questionable real parents...well you've come to the right place.

{Spoilers. Come back to this once you've read it and revel in how terrible you feel?}

Honestly I'm not sure why I finished reading this manga all the way through. I felt both uncomfortable because of the themes that were explored in the manga and also annoyed at how spineless Ai was. And kind of grossed out by the whole incest thing. But by the end I was kind of numbed to how morally wrong incest was that I just don't know what ended up happening and I think I'm just still stuck in a state of disbelief that this was allowed to be published in the first place. Sure I think I've read some stuff on people that were cousins twice removed or something. But never a brother-sister relationship. Before I get further off track, here's my wack synopsis.

So, there's a brother and sister named Yuzuru and Ai respectively. They're only a year apart and inseparable. He always picks her up from preschool and she clings to him as an loving and sweet younger sister does to their responsible brother. Their family is pretty perfect, except their parents fight a lot. So they divorced and each took a child. Yuzuru grew up in America with his journalist(?) dad. Ai grew up in Nagano with her mom. And this was pretty fine with Ai burying how much she missed her brother deep inside and Yuzuru yearning for his younger sister up until he moved back to Japan. They reunited and...all this time Yuzuru has been harboring convoluted feelings of love for Ai. Ai has also never been in love with anyone else. And so they develop romantic feelings for one another. Despite their close friends finding out and thinking "Hey, maybe I can be the love interest instead and we can stop this morally incorrect thing from continuing." But they don't stop. And they just continue to commit incest.

What's super questionable is just how Yuzuru and Ai act. They know it's wrong, but Yuzuru's mindset is just "I want to make her happy" but he's also selfish and doing this for himself when he says "I'll die with this love kept a secret" when he tries to date Ai's friend, but quickly crumbles when Ai confesses to him. Once he sees her tears he just melts. Absolutely no resolve. Even though it's morally incorrect. And Ai is absolutely ridiculous as well. She just tears up a little and everyone softens towards her. And whenever something mildly inconvenient happens she just freezes and either lets the other person hit, yell at, or accuse her without saying or doing anything in her own defense. Absolutely ridiculous. Please don't let her be your role model. She's so incredibly frustrating. You'd have to read to understand, but honestly I don't want you to have to read this.

And then when their father dies while on a trip to America that's really sad. Because their mom's already found out and has to separate them herself. And Ai's response is just "I've been forsaken by God, this is the price of my sin. Give me back my dad and I'll stop" if I'm recalling correctly. But before she said "Let me be forsaken by God." So, which is it? Hard to tell.

The ending was a definite plot twist. It came so suddenly that I would almost call it a cop-out. Yuzuru turns out to not be blood related to Ai. So it's not morally incorrect to be together anymore. Which I guess is a sigh of relief. It definitely was to me. But even just mentally thinking that you're siblings is still a little bit of a grey area to me. Also, his parents were actual blood related siblings who actually committed incest to create Yuzuru.

And I suppose we can go into the whole argument of why incest is illegal in the first place and heck it might even be a human construct. However, as a law-abiding citizen, it just doesn't seem right.

Would I recommend this? Not really. Even if it wasn't about incestuous siblings, I would still say that Ai is frustration enough not to read. There are definitely better stories to read out there. Go read some others because this is just too long and too unfortunate and slightly cliche and contradictory for me to recommend.