Description: Being poor and racked up with debts, Nanami Momozono is a cheerful high school girl. One day, when Nanami comes home from school, it turns out her father had spent all their remaining money on gambling and that they were broke. While her father ran away leaving her behind, Nanami ends up running away from the debt collectors to find herself at a park. At that park, Nanami meets someone named Mikage, who send her to his shrine to live. There, Nanami’s remaining normal life turns into a hectic adventure with spirits, gods, and a fox familiar named Tomoe.
Notes:
– *Although the manga has ended, not everything has been scanned into English (or other languages) yet.
– I have only read the manga.
– The anime has a second season and an OVA.
– As I mentioned above, Kamisama was manga that I really didn’t like. I found Nanami overly cliché, and I didn’t really like her relationship with Tomoe at first. It took me about 60 – 80 chapters to finally warm up and enjoy the characters and story. I’ll admit that even now I find myself unable to stand reading Kamisama from time to time, but it has definitely improved from the beginning. I would definitely recommend giving it a shot.
This is a manga about an anti-social girl’s high school adventures and romance.
Manga:
Genres: Drama, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Slice of Life.
My Rating: 7
Mangaka: Tsujita Ririko
Released: 2009
Ended: 2016
Chapters: 39
Volumes: 11
Description: After constantly having to transfer and move through her middle school life, Kanoko can finally live a stable high school life with her friend Tsubaki. At least, that’s what she thought before becoming the Newspaper Club’s strategist! (The sequel to Warau Kanoko-sama)
Notes:
– Koi Dano Ai Dano = KDAD
– Besides being the sequel to Warau Kanoko-sama, this manga has a spin-off called Koi Nashi Ai Nashi.
– I enjoyed this manga more as a “side-manga.” It’s perfect to read right after Warau Kanoko-sama, but the romance aspect that was left unanswered in Warau, is only answered at the very end of KDAD.
Description: Naho Takamiya receives letters from her future-self ten years away. The first letter describes events that take place on the first day of school, which includes the transfer of Kakeru Naruse. While Naho and her friends befriend Kakeru, Naho learns that the purpose of her future-self’s letters is to save Kakeru’s life. Now, Naho must struggle to change the future for the better in order to save Kakeru before it’s too late.
Notes:
– * The parallel world aspect of this manga is the only thing that makes it sci-fi-ish. It’s like time travel mixed in with parallel universes.
– I’ve read the entire manga, and I have not yet watched the anime.
– The whole sci-fi element in this manga, makes it very different from most shoujo mangas.
– I have to admit that I’ve had very mixed feelings about the ships in this manga. Mainly because I’ve never been a big fan of (the concept of) changing the future/past.
This manhwa is probably one of my favorites after Love in The Mask and 1/2 Prince.
Manga:
Genres: Drama, Gender Bender, Romance, School Life, Shoujo.
My Rating: 7
Mangaka: Han Yu-rang
Released: 2007
Ended: 2016
Chapters: 100+
Volumes: 17
Rated: T
Description: After being abandoned by her mother, Eun-soo Cha grew up to be wild and violent despite her grandmother’s care. Eun-soo finds that no one believes that she is a girl with her fighting and personality, and she often takes advantage of this while fooling around. It is isn’t until Eun-soo’s grandmother dies, however, that she promises to stop fighting and follow her grandmother’s wishes. With her grandmother gone, Eun-soo Cha must move in with stepbrother in Seoul and face the many difficulties yet to come.
Notes:
– I assigned the rating.
– Translated chapters sometimes can take months to release. Although they’ve been frequently updating these past three months, this is not very usual.
– The ending was very sudden. The previous chapters did not prepare readers for the ending, and the previous chapters actually made me think there was a whole lot of things left to do.
– If you like Boy of The Female Wolf try out Love in The Mask. It has a better ending and is also by Han Yu-rang.
Description: Ichigo Amano is a 14-year-old girl who is clumsy and is only good at eating. Unlike her younger sister, Amano has never considered herself to have a recognizable talent. One day, when Amano goes to a Sweets Festival, she meets a patisserie called Henri-sensei. Henri is surprised by Amano’s strong sense of taste and acknowledges her sense of taste. He then invites Amano to the St. Marie Academy to become a Patissiere. As Amano joins the academy, she reminisces of her grandmother- who was a patisserie herself- and meets three boys called the 3 Sweets Princes. Moreover, Amano finds herself a sweet spirit named Vanilla that will help her on her journey to success. Struggling through hard times and working hard to accomplish her dream, how far can Amano go?
Notes:
– Not all the chapters and volumes have been scanned in English. The last scans were for volume 10.
– I have not read the manga. I did read some chapters, but the scans and images were very bad? I did hear that the manga is a bit different from the anime too.
– There is a second season. I will review it separately.
– This series is very much like Shugo Chara.
– This is a childish show. It is cute in its own ways, though.
Description: Ageha Shiroi is high school girl who designs her own bags and struggles with her major sister complex. When Ageha’s older sister gets pregnant and decides to get married, Ageha is left shocked and upset. Then, one day, Ageha’s older sister takes her to a bridal dress store called Velvet Blue Rose – or V.B Rose- which is solely run by two men. There Ageha finds herself mesmerized by the dresses, despite being against her sister’s wedding. However, after causing a ruckus, Ageha is reprimanded by the handsome store owner Arisaka Yukari. Can Ageha redeem herself and overcome her sister complex? And what lays ahead of her and V.B. Rose?
Notes:
– I have edited this post as of June 2016.
– I’ve seen on some sites and forums that this manga has already ended. However, despite it being over, I’m not able to find English scans for the remainder of the manga. The scans seem to be still uploading randomly. (Sometimes quickly sometimes slowly)
– I did mention this before my update, but I would have loved it if this manga updated more frequently. (Personally) There’s so much confusion in the recent chapters due to the gaps of time between updates. I understand that translations take long, but V.B Rose is a manga that’s read in one sitting or as a “side-manga.” Having really spaced out updates only hurts the manga. (AND as I said, this is my personal opinion)
– Also please note that I did not do extensive research on this manga. I know for sure that there are no legal scans of further chapters. Besides that, I am not sure about other chapters and when the manga will be completely scanned.
Description: Keito Aoyama is a retired child actress. Due to a traumatizing performing event in her last project as a child, Keito dropped out of school and withdrew into her room. Years later when Keito is sixteen, she bumps into a stranger who introduces her to the school El Liston. El Liston is a free high school for people who don’t have a place they belong. Eventually, Keito decides to join El Liston. Beginning her new life with the support of her new friends, Keito must find where she belongs. Along the way, can she find love?
Notes:
– This manga is between a 9 and 10. More like a 9.5
– *Somewhat Spoiler* What makes this manga my all time favorite is its originality and characters. This manga is fresh, somewhat realistic, and surprising. What I had to found the most surprising was who Keito ended up with. Her… “hubby” was someone who could have been considered a background character. His presence had slowly grown through the manga. Slowly enough for me not to realize it. This couple is the second most surprising couple after Korrasami (Legend of Korra). Yes, Korrasami was out-of-the-blue for me. I thought that they were really really good friends up until the end.
Description: Najika Kazami has an amazing sense of taste and is talented in cooking. When Najika parent’s died in an accident when she was a child, a little boy managed to lighten up her world. Leaving Najika with a silver spoon, Najika is lead to Seika Academy and dreams of seeing her flan prince again. With many struggles yet to come, Najika must move forward to accomplish her dreams and find happiness.
Notes:
– I was questioning on putting Tragedy in there or not, but there are some events that are… sad? (I found them more shocking…)
– From what I remember of Kitchen Princess was that I really liked the story and characters. Thinking back now, they aren’t completely original, but the story does have some ‘events’ that freshen up the story. The manga is a little like Love So Life mixed with Yumeiro Patissiere (and maybe with a bit of Kirarin Revolution romance?).
Description: Arima Kousei stopped playing/performing on the piano two years ago, after he had a mental break down. Now, living his life with little joy, Arima’s childhood friend Tsubaki Sawabe pushes Kousei to play the piano again. However, when Arima meets Kaori Miyazono- an energetic violinist- Arima begins to find a reason to play the piano once more. As Arima’s journey as a pianist continues, he also find new struggles with being “friend A,” of Kaori’s crush Watari Ryota.
….[Source]Notes:
– FYI: I have not read the manga. I have heard from others that the manga and anime are alike, but… you never know…
– Here are my thoughts on the first 18(?) episodes of Uso.
– Regarding my first thoughts of Uso, I think I have come to like Tsubaki. I wouldn’t say that I have come to love her yet… but after the ending and everything that happened, I think I can accept Tsubaki… Sorry I wrote this really awkwardly because honestly, that’s how I feel about the whole Tsubaki vs Kaori thing. Even though that’s not really a thing, I believe :/
– [Source] for the logo picture (picture 1).
– I seriously choked up in the ending. I was glad at how things were wrapped up… but still o(╥﹏╥)o
My first impression of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (SWKNU or Uso) was that it had beautiful scenery. My second thought was that something was off and that something shocking or terrible was going to happen.
SWKNU started off a bit cliché. Arima Kousei- the protagonist- was in a ‘slump.’ He couldn’t hear the notes he was playing on the piano, and his childhood friend Tsubaki was worried about him. Maybe it was by chance or ‘fate,’ but thanks to Tsubaki, Arima was able to meet Kaori Miyazono. And yes…Kaori thought Arima was being a pervert at first…
After the encounter in the first episode, Arima gets himself together and performs a couple of times. Kaori, who plays the violin, also performs a couple of times and with Arima too. The two characters are obsessed and in love with music.
Listening to their performances is relaxing, nerve-racking, and just amazing. Even though I’m not an expert with classical music, the timings of the pieces in the show’s plot mixes well, and it makes it hard not to pay attention and appreciate the music. (Although the pieces can be lengthy at times)
[slight spoiler] As it is obvious, Arima falls for Kaori. I mean, they’re total opposites, and they are the main characters of SWKNU, after all. The question is, does Kaori have feelings for Arima? The answer at this point in the show is debatable. Especially since Arima was ‘Friend A’ of Watari- the guy Kaori apparently likes, and the guy Tsubaki and Arima are friends with.
What surprised me the most about Uso, was that it jumped right into the problems. I figured the show was going to take it a bit slow plot-wise, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. When Kaori starts having ‘problems*,’ things take a sudden twist. What happened to the light and carefree laughter?
Then again, with Arima’s past issues of his mother, Kaori’s problems could have been predicted…
With the Kaori’s tragedy, the show becomes emotional.
Personally, I wasn’t mentally prepared. I wasn’t prepared for the sudden jump in the story, or the problems that were occurring. It took me about ten episodes to have my feelings caught up, and for me to finally sympathize with the characters. Maybe I’m just not that sentimental, but I barely knew the characters and their norms. Until I could understand them, I had to stick with speculating the show. Which, I surprisingly liked for the most part.
The show introduces a ‘few’ rivals for Arima. The first rival is Takeshi Aiza. He is the same age as Arima (and others), and he is also the top pianist of his age. It is known that Aiza was offered abroad opportunities, but turned them down because of Arima. Aiza always waited and wanted to win in a competition against Arima; even when Arima was in a slump and had stopped playing the piano. His hair sticks up weird, and he has a lot of determination. Aiza, is probably one of my favorite characters after Kaori and Hiroko (especially after episode 18 :)
The second rival is a girl named Emi Igawa. Unlike Aiza, Emi’s emotions greatly affects her playing. Although this can help Emi, when she in introduced in SWKNU, viewers hear that she has not been playing well recently due to her sensitive emotions. Emi seemed like one of those ‘pretty-and-cold-girls’ when introduced, but after seeing her performance in the show, it is clear that she is much more emotional and kind. Emi, like Aiza, has always wanted to defeat and show off to Arima in a competition.
Knowing Uso, there are many more side characters. Like Arima’s teacher Hiroko Seto (who was also his mother’s friend), Takeshi’s younger sister, the boy who plays the violin, Tsubaki’s friend, and so on…
But, my advice is not to take all the characters lightly. Specifically, do not take Tsubaki lightly.
Now with Tsubaki… she can pitied, liked, or disliked. She worries for Arima and pushes him back into the music world. She also introduces him to Kaori, and she has been with Arima since childhood. However, she easily gets jealous and hates music because Arima is so occupied by it. Even when she pushed him back to music, she often says she wants him to stay with her.
Tsubaki quickly goes from a sister-like character to a selfish-crybaby. It can be hated or loved. Maybe both, but I haven’t found the perfect mix of the two yet…or at all…
Each and every character in Uso has a past, a story, and some type of importance. Every Thursday, viewers either learn more about the characters, get depressed and cry, or both. Uso has beautiful in scenery and music. I’m not sure how I feel about the story or characters quite yet…but as things are slowly changing and unraveling, everything becomes more and more clear.
The manga ended this year, and the show is supposed to end sometime in spring. Your Lie in April is a show that makes you want to cry and smile at the same time. It’s pretty, emotional and beautiful and relaxing and nerve-racking. The show has you worried about characters, yet it doesn’t make you edgy for finding out what will happen next (at least when you finish the current episode). Your Lie In April is a show that needs time to sync. It is beautifully painful.
Genres: Drama, Shoujo, Tragedy, Music, School Life, Slice-of-Life, Romance.
What I rate it so far: 8
Notes:
– Kaori has a tendency of quoting things. Maybe I’m just weird, but that is probably one of my favorite things about her character. :)
– Uso becomes strays away from its chlicé-ness and becomes refreshing. I almost forgot to add that (>__<‘)
– [SPOILER] * Kaori’s problem is that she is seriously ill. Viewers (who don’t read the manga) still do not know what her illness is. – Sources for the pics: Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4, Pic 5, Pic 6, Pic 7, Pic 8, Pic 9, Pic 10, Pic 11, Pic 12, Pic 13, Pic 14, Pic 15, Pic 16.
– Some Uso backgrounds: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
)
Animes♪Manga 