Manga Match 100 The Memorandum of Kyouko Okitegami

I think after I introduced V to the last manga (Manga Match 99) he felt like he had to one up me so he gave me this one. I was a little bit skeptical to be honest, especially after he dubbed Kyouko as "waifu material" which is kinda gross. But I decided to pick it up anyways and ended up really liking it. Some parts were a little bit scary, and it has to do a lot with murder mysteries which I'm not really good with, but it did stimulate my brain and was a really well-written mystery manga. The only thing is, don't be deceived. Even though it says that the manga is finished, really it's only volume one so the bigger overarching questions have yet to be addressed which upset me. I thought I would find out who wrote on her wall and the origins behind the Forgetful Detective by the end but I didn't!

The story revolves around this very unfortunate man that always gets accused for things he hasn't done or otherwise gets caught up in rather unfortunate happenings named Kakushidate Yakusuke. He often hires this detective named Kyouko Okitegami to help him solve his problems. She's very good at her job, but she can't take any long-term job that would take more than a day to solve because once she falls asleep her memory resets to when she was around 17 years old. This in itself is a frustrating mystery. I wish I knew why this happened to her.

Almost every episode is a different mystery case that Kyouko has been hired to solve with a pretty regular format that all mysteries go through, just at a heightened pace because of Kyouko's time limit. It's a regular shtick for her to talk about getting paid; we stan a ruthless businesswoman. There's definitely a lot to say about each of the cases that she solved, but I think to go into each one would kind of take away from the whole magic that the story evokes. So I'll leave it at that, but wow mysteries are truly addicting to read. I actually skipped my section to stay in bed and read this manga; that's how good it was. 

Manga Match 94 Kin no Tamago

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. 

Manga Match 82 Kuzumi-kun, Can't You Read the Room?

Recently, a lot of the manga I've been reading have been completing which is both satisfying and sad all at the same time. It's satisfying because I'm such a completionist, but also sad because the story's over and we won't ever get to see the canon of what happens in the future.

{Spoilers, except it's slice of life so we're in it for character interaction not plot}

This is definitely more of a comedy than a true shoujo. But in some ways I think it really embodies what it means to be in love when you're young. These characters don't put up a front of being more mature than they really are, and genuinely try to wear their hearts on their sleeves. I would mention all of the side characters, but I'm kind of lazy and bad with names so I don't want to pull up everyone's names. But just know that they're all solid friends and truly deserve the best.

I think I liked the manga so much just because it wasn't like a lot of shoujo I've been seeing nowadays where it's all about kissing and going on dates and love triangles and drama. Instead this is a very contained love story between a popular tsundere and a guy that doesn't talk that much. Think kind of Takagi-san vibes, but with more tsundere and less flirting?

For the most part, I think the most entertaining part is seeing Erika struggle with her feelings. Not in a sadistic way or anything, but seeing her initial denial of her feelings and how she comes to terms with how deeply in love she is with Kuzumi and how she awkwardly deals with and expresses her feelings is great. At times the manga can be frustrating, especially since Kuzumi rarely says anything. However, despite the lack of verbal communication the two have, it's still a wonderful romance to watch unfold.

If you're getting tired of love triangles and a lot of drama, and want a more lowkey and peaceful shoujo manga, this is it. I think that characters develop so well and it's such a happy and wholesome ending that really fills your heart to the brim. Please go ahead and read it!

Manga Match 65 Twin Role

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

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

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

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

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

Manga Match 58 Taishou Otome Otogibanashi

So I went through a short historical manga stint. I'm not too sure if this is the genre for me. It's not that they're not enjoyable, maybe I just haven't found the right one? Also throughout this story I was trying to figure out if this story was really meant for girls or guys. Because honestly some of it is pretty shoujo, but when you look at the genres it's listed under it says shounen so maybe that's why I couldn't relate too much and there was too much oppai. That's just me though.

{Spoilers because there's actually a plot}

Fun fact, while I was studying for my exam I actually read this during my breaks and it was so addicting I had a hard time studying honestly. Some advice I would give to any students out there is to not start reading a new manga, especially ones with lots of chapters/is completed, if you're in the middle of a critical testing period. It's really not worth it.

So this manga focuses around this affluent household in the [insert the era here sorry I forgot] era, the Shima household. They're super rich, but the father was twisted from a young age to believe that the only thing that would bring happiness is power and money. And so he raised his kids in such a way that there was no love in the household and everything he did for them was ultimately for his own gain. So as you can imagine it was a pretty twisted household. One of the boys Tamahiko was in an accident where he lost functionality in his dominant right hand. He was sent to a rural area in Chiba to live the rest of his days out as the dead son of the Shima household. And there Tamahiko was, with no friends or anyone to love him. His dad bought him a wife to take care of him and, to all the lolicons out there's delight, here enters Yuzuki. She's this tiny 14 year old girl that sold herself to pay off her family's debt. Even though she's in this dire situation, she's still a tiny beam of sunshine in Tamahiko's life, or as he likes to refer to her "the spring storm." And so with her taking care of him and his sister Tamako who comes to visit with such kindness, the cold hearts of the Shima siblings begins to thaw and they live a very nice life.

There are some ups and downs with Tamahiko being reinstated as the heir to the Shima household, but he skrts out of there real quick and ends up marrying into Yuzuki's household because true love you know? And then they live happily ever after.

Okay, it's a little bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea. It's a fuwa fuwa time overall. Though I would say that there are a lot of random arcs and twists and turns that I didn't expect, I think it was a nice read overall. If you can get past all of the unneeded oppai scenes and all of the borderline ecchi that is :') I think that you'll find a very cute story of a boy that regains his will to live and begins to value himself again and the power of the spring storm.

Manga Match 47 Ne Ne Ne

Hehehe, I thought while I was procrastinating on studying for finals that I could crank out a couple more of these because I don't want to study. Or something~

Hm, I guess recently I've been thinking about a lot of different things. Like my housing situation for next year, if I'm going to graduate next year, what I want to do with my life. But all in moderation and all lowkey. Like I'm stressed, but not to the point of breaking down, you know? Although, if you're feeling stressed you should try some meditation apps hehe. Right now I've been using Headspace's student plan and it's pretty great. It helps me to just relax (and sometimes to just fall asleep whoops too relaxed).

{Spoilers}

So, if you're looking for something super fluffy and short this is for you. It's only 7 chapters, so you can read it and feel pretty good in like 30 minutes. But I do have to say...it is the romance between a 39 year old and 16 year old. Yikes. But besides that, if you imagine the age gap isn't terribly large it's really cute. Besides, the older guy honestly acts very innocently, so it's not too bad I guess.

It's basically this shrine guardian guy(?) gets married to this 16 year old girl and it's just their daily life together about her wanting him to accept her as his wife and trying to be a cute wifey. Honestly, if I think too hard about it I get kind of mad because it's like all she is is an ornamental figure, but if you don't think too hard it's just the cute daily life kinda stuff between innocent newlyweds. There's not a whole lot to say since it's super fluffy is all, but if you're looking for a short diversion from daily life, this is as good a one as any!

Oh, and he wears a mask so he doesn't get possessed. And you never see his face. Oh well.

And they have a dragon child. Please, do not question anything :)