A Unique and Touching Manga
341078
There's not much variety in the world of shojo manga, and while I love romances, and even the occassional magical girl story, it's nice to read something a little different.

First of all, the main characters are boys, not girls. I liked the idea of a girls' manga seen through a guy's eyes. All of the characters are interesting and pretty realistic. These are the kind of characters you could imagine existing in the real world. There is romance in "Honey and Clover," but it's handled in an understated way. What I mean is, it's there, but it's not the focus of the manga; it's just one more part of the characters' lives. There is so much more to the story and the characters than just their romantic entanglements. The focus of the story is still relationships, though, and these are all handled tenderly and realistically. There are relationships between friends, students and teachers, and even family.

"Honey and Clover" is also very good at showing the value of ordinary moments. The characters do ordinary things- go on picnics, do school work, and just talk to one another over lunch. But it's these moments that make up life, and that's what this manga is about.

The art is simple but pretty. I think it does a good job of showing the characters' personalities and telling the story. The only problem I had is that chibi style is used a little too often. Still, the chibi is cute, so it's not too much of a problem.

Some people might be bored with "Honey and Clover" for its slow pace and ordinary story. But those who are looking for something sweet, true to life, and even poignant won't be disappointed.
2129957
It is a short story, so I am afraid that if I provide a long review I will give away too many details.
The art is lovely and the story is very touching.  It will stay with you long after you read it.
3509416
It's a shame this isn't in English, this manga is different. The major characters' personalties are highly developed, and they are complicated. It never lags, you are drawn forward to try to understand their motivations, and actions. You have to pay attention to the details, and of the images as well to gain more insight. It's the type of story I enjoy.
1369571
I first bought this manga out of curiosity and expected to at least like it. I ended up loving it! It's one of my favorites! It's about two men just trying to get by in this crazy world and how they deal with the choices they've made. The ending, also, was perfect. I won't give anything away, but I will just say that it was perfect.
2774657
At this moment, I do not know whether or not this manga associates or even connects with the "Blind Target" manga, but it doesn't matter. This comic is called Reku Fuyunagi's "version" of the time period between the Gundam Wing anime series and the Endless Waltz movie, and it is very good.
For those who are familiar with the three-volume Gundam Wing manga (for good or ill), this manga will definately appear different in almost very way. For starters, "Ground Zero" involved the work of a leading shoujo (girls) manga artist, so don't expect any Gundam mecha fighting and expect a lot of emotional confrontations between the characters. A few of the characters (particularly Relena and Wufei) are drawn in a way that makes them look younger than they really are, almost like 10-year olds. But that doesn't mean a Gundam fan, male as well as female, can't enjoy this delightful work.
Being influenced by a shoujo artist, the characterization and emotional tensions are a lot more apparent and satisfying than the Gundam Wing three-volume manga. And it isn't always serious; one minute Heero looks determined and serious, and the next he resembles a by-stander from "Sailor Moon". The action found here might not be too satisfying to readers who want hard-core mecha action fight scenes, but for me this manga shows a side of "Gundam Wing" that defines the series. After all, if "Gundam Wing" didn't have its complex story and deep characterization, it would be nothing more than an animated version of "Power Rangers." There's also the added bonus of Trowa actually laughing more than once (it's true!) and Relena lovers will definately love the last part of the manga.
Of course, nothing's perfect, and this is no exception. Fans of both the series and the Endless Waltz movie will find a few inconsistencies here, but anyone except a purist perfectionist can easily overlook them.
All in all, this is a worthy addition to the Gundam Wing universe, despite being someone's "version." For (the majority of) female readers, it'll show the side of the anime they enjoyed through the Gundam battles and fights. For (the majority of) male readers, it'll show the factor that made sure "Gundam Wing" wasn't just another mindless mecha-robot show.
2923066
AMAZING story. Great in depth characters, with a very dark and tragic story and setting. The MC is also not one of the most common types of characters I've seen out there. The whole manga is filled with crazy meaning and messages that add depth to the story and keeps it even more interesting. Even after finishing the whole story several times I still found something new each time that I hadn't noticed before. Highly recommend.
917509
Reason for Reading: The dark planet intrigued me but mostly the plot revolves around mail carriers and I {ahem} really like getting mail, so thought this sounded cool. Plus the cover is gorgeous.

Comments: Amberground is a dark planet divided into three rings separated by rivers which also separates the classes. In the middle of the planet is Akatsuki, the city of the government and wealthy. No one may enter without extremely hard to get special passes. Above Akatsuki is a man-made sun which glows down on the city bathing it in light. Across the river live the middle classes and across another live the lower classes, the further you go from Akatsuki and its man-made sun the darker the perpetual night-time sky becomes. It is in this world that the Letter Bees carry mail from one end to the other, they have special passes to cross the bridges and must traverse the dangerous lands inhabited by Gaichuu, huge insect like creatures completely covered in metal armour. Here we meet Gauche Suede, 18yos, on his way to pick up a letter but when he gets there he finds that the letter he must deliver is a child, Lag, who does not believe he has been abandoned to be delivered to his aunt.

I really enjoyed this manga story. Gauche is very determined and respective of his honourable job as Letter Bee, but Lag creates animosity between them right from the start and this is an ongoing source for humour to contrast the darker aspects of the story. Both Gauche and Lag have back-stories that are revealed during their journey showing the difficult, emotional situations each is dealing with separately. Of course what would a journey over dangerous terrain be without monsters to fight? And so Gauche and Lag find themselves often attacked by the Gaichuu in which there is no defence against except a special gun that all Letter Bees carry which, with concentration, will shoot a part of their heart energy at the insect-like creatures and reduce them to nothing. It is during one of these battles that a unique ability of Lag's is found. Part Two gets even better which takes place five years later and concentrates on Lag along with the introduction of a fabulous female character, Niche. I loved the plot, lots of story threads going on and the book ends on an exciting note leaving the reader anxious for the next volume. I also enjoyed the artwork, Lag is cute and Gauche while possibly slightly ambiguous was obviously a male to me. Many scenes of the terrain and background brought the desolation of the planet to the reader. The only thing that bothered me were the fight scenes lasted a little on the long side, sometimes too many pages of nothing but BAM, CLICK, WWHOOSH, AAAA, CLANK. These I skipped over, I got the point. In all, I really enjoyed the mixture of humour, darkness and plot. I'll be reading Vol. 2 shortly.
3636189
When I originally read the description, I thought that this would be a deep, introspective manga. I thought it would be a kind of commentary on the supposed pandemic of suicide Japan faced with its youth. Then when I picked it up, I had reservations. The art was very shonen, and it seemed gorier than I would have expected. It seemed that the focus would be on the violence and brutality of the suicide virus.
However, upon reading it, I was pleasantly suprised. It's more in the vein of Dragon Eye or Gin Tama. While taking on a serious subject, it maintains a light touch and a sense of humor that I deeply appreciated. Honestly, I can't rave enough about it, because it covered such a broad spectrum of genres, and it did it well.
927097
I read this series first, and then I started collecting it for my daughter. This manga is not filled with all sunshine and flowers. The main character is believable and flawed and you want to root for him because he's trying to do better. It's very rare that you see a character who starts out being so insensitive, realize his mistake and work so hard at trying to make it right. It makes you want to root for him. I will be gathering all of these volumes because this is an intelligent, well written story.
1209170
This story was absolutely beautiful. At first when I got it I thought it was going to be a manga in comic book style so when I saw it was actually a novel I was a little disappointed but I decided to give it a try and im so glad I did. The story was so well written that as I read along I felt like I was right there with them. It had touching moments and sad moments (I admit I cried at one point) and such a sweet happy ending.

This book is absolutely not for anyone under the age of 18 as there is some strong language and some sexual content inside so be forewarned.

I loved Abel as a character. He was so sweet and cute that I wanted to go right into the story and hug him to death. And by the end of the story Heath learns a very wonderful lession that a lot of people in the world should come to learn themselves. It is a story of grief and sadness and climbing out of the hole you fell into and even finding love in unexpected places.

I highly recomend this story to any Yaoi lover out there.
3169526
This series continues to showcase the importance of what happens if you bully someone, not only to the person being bullied but the bully themself. A unique look into the minds of young people who must learn to embrace people's differences. I will happily continue to pick up this wonderful series! I also recommend anyone to pre-order future volumes on Amazon as they often price match other websites to make these volumes nearly 50% off, which is an amazing deal! Pick this series up if you like great, unique slice of life manga with an important story.
2150600
i'm pretty familiar with naduki koujima's works, namely bokura no oukoku (our kingdom) which i got through scanlations online (i believe it was recently licensed). selfish love doesn't veer far from the usual koujima fares. put an aggresive seme, a defensive uke, lotsa groping, a sprinkling of quirky sidekicks and supporting cast, a dose of highschool drama, mix them well together, and bam! you get the perfect recipe of a fun, light hearted yaoi manga. don't get me wrong, i enjoy her works exactly because they're fun. this one fits right into the mold.

the plot is pretty much summed up by the publisher's blurb. however, be beautiful has a tendency to change the ages of the characters involved -- they made them college kids when in fact they're highschoolers in the original manga. like i've said before, god forbid high school kids indulging in sex... *sarcasm* i mean, i've yet seen universities that require uniforms (and i should know, coming from a country that requires uniform from kindergarten through high school). but hey, i might be wrong. this revision doesn't interfere with the story too much though, and that's good (usually i'm a stickler for accuracy but hey, american yaoi readers can't be choosers). one nice thing is that ryuya (obviously the uke) is not only attractive, but athletic AND a perfect student. he's there on scholarship, after all. quite refreshing. orito might mostly be the arrogant selfish rich guy that he is, but unexpectedly koujima also shows that he has moments of self doubt as well. i like strong semes with weaknesses... makes 'em more believable.

anyway, i like koujima's art. her lines are exceptionally sharp and clean. depiction of background images are adequate (it's not too detailed like some mangas that i've seen, but i'm quite happy with it), and very well drawn. surprisingly, the panels don't feel empty either but rather have an airy feel to it. the character's physiques are bulkier compared to the prevalent sylph-like (and sometimes unrealistic) bodies of most yaoi mangas. not that i have a problem with pretty/femme boy, but... well, it's nice to see boys who ARE obviously boys. koujima's boys have muscles, believable proportions and she makes 'em very expressive too. her art's pretty much recognizable and that's pretty nice as well.

where selfish love contains no sex scenes (at least not yet so far), the accompanying 4 sides are quite sexplicit. they're in essence 2 stories each with 2 chapters, one of which involves salarymen. the other kinda has an underlying theme of blood (blood = hot sex? *grin*). both are fun and pretty engaging, even if they're just an excuse for explicit bedroom scenes. oh, and don't expect to see any dangly bits... in this manga they are relegated to the invisible variety, with perhaps fluids outlining them.

all in all, i'd recommend this manga for those who are into explicit yaoi tempered with not too angsty plot. oh, this manga also includes a few 4 panel comic extra of selfish love, which is funny and super cute. thouroughly enjoyable.
1747252
I picked up this manga after a long time of debating myself at my local borders store but I'm extremely glad I had the chance to read it and own it. The artwork is beautiful and very reminiscent of several other artists but the overall effect is more powerful than most people would expect.

 The main character, Kenta Akagi, is introduced as a boy who spends much of his time at an amusement park where a young girl named Kano Mutsuki works. after a short introduction, the story brings itself several years later when Kenta is working at a pizza parlor as a delivery boy. Destiny eventually brings him face to face with the reality that he is to be used to incite the powers of a character called Meme (who bears a striking resemblance to Kano except she looks much younger). Souvenirs from his time with Kano, both physical and in memory, help bring about the circumstances for him to face his destiny as the "Reactor."
4105808
I have the American English version of this manga by Kodansha Publishing and while I do enjoy the art and the story overall the biding from that one fell apart. This one is different, the binding is strong and the pages are crisp. I also really like the smooth, lustrous cover and magenta edges of the pages. Since the main character's name changes so much and the story is a bit choppy I would suggest this title to people who are a little knowledgeable about Yoshiwara or read manga often.
2856528
I am a huge fan of anime. I have started to read manga over the past 2 years. Handa-kun has some great moments of laughter but also makes you think about human relationships and psychology. I look forward to reading more. I am also reading Barakamon so it is cool to see what Handa-sensei was like as a teenager.
4237753
Le Portrait de Petite Cossette, by Katsura Asuka, is the manga adaptation of the famous anime. Having seen and enjoyed the short gothic-style anime, I couldn't help but take the next step and read from start to end its manga adaptation. Though it isn't as comparable to the anime this manga adaptation doesnt disappoint, and proved to be a very enjoyable read.

The story centers around Eiri Kurahashi, who is an art school student with a job at a local antique store and an unexplainable obsession with a portrait of a Victorian-era girl named Cossette. The portrait has a strange history  everyone who has owned it has been murdered ina bizarre fashion. However, its when the new owner of the portrait nearly kills himself that Euri decides to get involved. And thats when Cossette begins speaking to him. No one else can hear or see her, and Eiris not about to tell his friends (as is to be expected) that he is talking to the ghost of the girl in the portrait. However, Cossette has a problem, and no one can help her but Eiri: she needs to gather her former possessions, each one of them cursed and causing their owners to go insane. But, how long can one deal with cursed objects and hysteria before descending into madness himself?

The story develops very similarly to that of the anime, though it provides details and information which wasn't made available by it. Though it is classified as horror, it isn't (to my consideration) much of a horror manga in the traditional sense. There are some elements of it, but it isn't something of the same style as other series such as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. It is instead a gothic-style manga with major mystery, romance, and tragedy elements. It also has less graphic elements than the anime, though this wasn't something that I noticed too much whilst reading this manga adaptation. Le Portrait de Petite Cossette mixes this very particular style well, and it gives a very interesting perspective to its story. It is, above all, an aesthetic experience. The plot is a bit typical, but it manages to differentiate itself through the take on Eiris and Cossettes relationship (or Cossettes dubious intentions concerning Eiri). It is different from the anime in that it lacks some of the elements that makes the latter great, but this doesnt damper it. The plot is memorable, and the ending even better.

The art took a bit to get used to, but I loved it. The way in which the characters were drawn, as well as their surroundings, gave a very good atmosphere to the manga. Especially when it involved Cossette, her cursed possessions, and the drawings of her. It fits perfectly with the plot and the characters, and pulls both through very well. Like I said, it is a very aesthetic experience. Haunting, in a way. The characters themselves fit with the style of art, and are memorable and three-dimensional. Rather than being clich or overdramatic, they are realistic in both their personality and how they react to events. Eiri is the best example of this, and it is interesting to see how his perspective changes as the story progresses; particularly relating to Cossette herself.

Overall Le Portrait de Petite Cossette was an enjoyable manga to read, and I definitely recommend it. Though it has some faults, particularly in that the plot isn't the most original one out there, this doesnt bring the overall story down. I really enjoyed the themes it brought (Can you sacrifice your life for someone you love?), along with the imagery, its characters, and its aesthetic experience. I give it 4 stars, with a full buying recommendation. If you have seen the anime, you will definitely enjoy this. If you haven't but you enjoy gothic-style novels and comics, or the genres it falls under, you most likely will as well. Le Portrait de Petite Cossette is definitely worth reading, and one of the mangas that I have enjoyed reading the most so far this year. It is haunting, in every sense of the word.
294797
Let's start off with the art work first. Very well done. Loved the art work and the story line was organic. Straight fresh and new. I loved how the artist touched on the factor of "everything happens for a reason." Although. there was some things personally I did not agree with; for example TCs parent's decision. BOOO. But again, "Everything. Happens. For. A. Reason." Anyway, Noelle, I liked her although, some of her actions made me want to slap her. But, I will suggest you read it. I will say that this manga does have a hidden message. Also, the author does touch on "actions speaks louder than words" especially when it comes to finding someone that might be your absolute match. Also, the writer threw in the story how our peers own perspectives can influence our decisions when it comes to love and making choices. I can't wait to read this story, I really don't want to go too much into detail. I will go further into it on my own review page. But, I just don't want to spoil it for other fanatics. Also, I loved the message Eddie left in his book and I think he might have initiated a revolution.

RISE TOONAMI NATION