mangafanno1

”Return of The Prince” is written by Junko. The mangaka behind the series ”Kiss Him, Not Me”. If you were missing the boy-on-boy love action in that book, you will in this short story collection get a good selection of heartbreak and romance. The first story ”Return of the Prince” is about two cousins that meet each other after many years. The younger cousin, Fumi, has become a prince – he lost weight, is popular with the ladies, and goes to a high-prestige school. Everything is rolling for him, while life is difficult at the moment for the older cousin, Kou. When Fumi confesses his huge admiration for Kou, it complicates things – is it all a game or true love for Kou? I really liked the second story ”Metamorphosis”. It is about two childhood friends that are growing apart in High School because of their different interests. Yasuhiro is interested in soccer, and Ritsu is interested in bugs. Particular butterflies because of the transformation they go through to get their wings. ...

”Love, that's an understatement Vol 1” by Fujimomo is like a semi-mafia romance set in a school environment. I loved how the worlds of smart girl, Risa, and Zen and his group of delinquents mix. To some is Risa a very responsible person. To her classmates, she's robotic and cold. Of course, she doesn't like their view of her, but she is this way to not cause worries. But it has the effect that Risa is alone and doesn't know how to ask for help. I liked the mental picture the mangaka draw with Risa's heavy bag. Risa's bag is full of things that can help her in any given situation, so she doesn't have to rely on others. It becomes clear that it's a heavy burden if you can't get help when you need it. Risa is by no means a damsel in distress. She's more than capable of taking care of herself. We see it again and again in the story. There are scenes where most people would panic, but where she stands up for herself, and I screamed in delight! ...

"Knight of the Ice, Vol 1" by Yayoi Ogawa. As a reader, we know that Chitose and Kokoro have feelings for each other. That's probably why I thought the story was a bit slow at first because I wanted the romance to begin! But I got hooked after the second half, because, as the story progress, we see why their love story is not so easy. Chitose and Kokoro are each fighting with insecurities. Chitose is feeling insecure because of her height. At work, her boss is not taking her seriously, and everywhere else people see her at being below the cool and talented Kokoro, making her think that too. Kokoro is popular and a star skater, but he's younger than Chitose, and feels insecure because of it. She's a businesswoman. He's a skater that can't win if she doesn't cast a childhood magic spell on him. He feels like a kid next to her, and not like a man she can desire. Also, there's is something wrong with his manager. I don't know yet, if we are...

"Nighttime for Just Us Two" Volume 1 by Maki Miyoshi is a story about a girl, Nikaido, who feel she is an outsider at school. No one remembers her name and she's invisible to everyone. On a night walk, she meets the popular guy from her class, Koga-kun, but he presents himself as someone else... an alien that is exploring human life on earth. o.0 The first time I read the synopsis for this story I burst out laughing because... a shojo manga with an alien?! Never heard about it before and sounds crazy enough that it's hard to not check it out! I think this first volume was awesome! It was punchy and fast-paced and managed to show both Nikaido's loneliness, Koga's desperation, and Chiro-chan's happy attitude about living the human life. It was so funny! I love how Chiro-chan (the alien) and Koga (the human) come across as two different people. Chiro-chan is bright, happy and an airhead and Koga is... well, right now he is scared and is convinced he i...

I love Japanese culture but I haven't tasted sushi yet because I am really not good about eating things I don't know what is. I would hate to leave a plate of food because I didn't like it, and all the different names like maki, hosomaki, nori and nigiri are confusing and overwhelming, so no, I haven't ventured into a sushi restaurant yet because it seems more work than pleasure. I am not a very adventurous person, I know. That's why this book seemed ideal! This documentary-graphic novel was an easy must-read to gain knowledge! I hoped to learn a lot from the read – and I did! I love how nerdy this read is. I really got an impression of the art and craftsmanship of creating sushi and I know now that sushi is more than just a piece of fish on rice. The book is non-fiction and drawn as a travel notebook showing and telling what our main characters learn when they visit different masters in the art of sushi. It was cool how in detail it went about the differe...

I have always loved the story about Romeo & Juliet and have during the years seen many adaptions as movies, tv-series, and other works that are inspired by Romeo & Juliet as a theme. Therefore I have always wanted to read the original material, but haven't because Shakespeare is writing an old and hard to read English that makes it a torturous read, and who would like to torture themself? Not me! I read a lot of comics, so when I saw Romeo & Juliet as a manga who stays true to the original story, I had to try it. The drawings in the manga helped bringing this story alive to me. This manga is a direct adaption and stays very true to the original story. It has the old language, and though I had lines I didn't understand one-to-one, the visual story and gestures of the characters on the page made me understand a whole lot more than if I had read the text only. I can truthfully say that I enjoyed this read! It was an amazing detailed read. It was like seeing a t...

This is a series review of ”I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an Otome Game but the Boys Love Me Anyway!” by Sou Inaida It follows the same story plot as ”My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!” by Satoru Yamaguchi, which was just what I was hoping for :D Mystia, our female MC, begins at 10 years old having flashbacks and realise that she has been reincarnated into a game as the villainess. She doesn't remember the details but knows that a fatal ending is waiting for her if she doesn't change the storyline ... Mystia is like Katarina well-loved and admired by the people around her, but where Katarina is a villain until the point she remembers, Mystia seems like she has always been a clever and good girl who is much more aware of her lacks. She always acts out of a sense of duty and sensibility, which to the reader makes it clear that she's pure-hearted, but I could also see how her actions might be misunderstood and for others she might come acr...

It took me the longest time to get past page 1 of "Getting Closer To You" Vol 1 by Ruri Kamino. Not because the story is bad already from the get-go but because the very first panel is a close-up of the chest of a prime example of a male body. I had to take my time appreciating that panel. It very fast became clear to me that I would get along with the heroine and understand her joy for muscles. Hibi, female MC, is a muscle maniac and spends a lot of time spying on her school's sports teams. That's how she meets the muscle prince of the basketball team, who then finds her notebook and finds out about her obsession. He's part amused, freaked out, and fascinated about her passion and knowledge of muscles, and asks her (blackmail her) to become the manager of his sports team – the basketball team. You could think she was the luckiest girl getting a front-row to good-looking and fit muscles, but the basketball team are not well-trained guys nor are they doing we...

Series review of "Sakura's Dedication" by Fuyu Yukimiya. This is the shojo manga I have read about the love that comes after the first, young, insecure, inexperienced love. Sawa, our female MC, has had several boyfriends but her relationships all end with a bad breakup – just take her latest boyfriend who cheated on her. When her classmate Sakura confess his feelings to her, she replies that he's not her type. He's okay with that and doesn't give up on making her like him, because as he says ”one's type and the person you fall in love with are often different”, and it doesn't take more than one chapter for Sakura to win over Sawa. It's the story that follows that's fun to read because Sakura is different from the guys Sawa normally dates, so while she might be experienced in dating and think she knows how things will play out, she's thrown when their relationship is so different from her earlier relationships. The ex-boyfriends and b...

Series review of "Maid in Honey" by Mari Yoshino. I absolutely love "Kaichou wa Maid Sama", and have been looking for something that looks just like it – a story with a hardworking heroine, a push and pull relationship between the heroine and hero (something that makes my heart flutter), and a hero that annoys our heroine but helps her grow into herself. At school, Niko Nanase is a perfect high score student, admired by her peers, but the truth is that she has worked hard to enter the VIP private school with the not-so-noble propose - to find a rich husband. Somone who can help her make her dream come true, so she and her two younger sisters can find happiness again. Nanase is by no means a damsel in distress, but you get the sense that she fails at making her dream come true alone. Leon-kun is our male main character. An upcoming actor and school hottie, who quite early on shows an interest in our heroine. She's not impressed though by his flashy actor...

Looking for a story about the daughter of a duke? Royal tea parties with too many delicious cakes? Magic? Then read on, my friend ;) "My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Leads To Doom" by Satoru Yamaguchi is a story about our main character, a 17 year old girl – living and breathing for manga, anime and games. Tired after one night of frantic playing out her new favourite choose-your-own-adventure (otome) game, she gets into an accident and dies. What then happens is that she is reincarnated into Katarina Claes's body. The villainess in her new favourite game. Katarina Claes is the villain of your dreams. An evil bully that will meet her ultimately end by either being exiled or killed, depending on what path you choose in the game. This is rather problematic for our main character, who sets plans into motion to avoid her bad ending. Basically Katarina gets a personality change, and are now nice to the love interests (the bad endings!), practicing the sword...

"A Sign of Affection" Vol 1 by Suu Morishita is such a cute and lovely beginning to a promising new series. We follow Yuki's challenges as she navigates the hearing world, college and love. I feel we got so many good glimpses of what it means to be deaf, and how challenging it can be. Yuki is at first glance a quiet and subduded young lady, but when she texts with her friends you get to see her sparkling personality. I loved it, and felt it really showed that there is more to people than what the eye can see (or ear can hear). The drawings is soooooo niiiiiceeeee! The hands are lively and detailed when Yuki is speaking (doing sign language). It is clear that the author wanted to make this as realistic as possible, and I applaud her for it. The characters faces – WOW! I could feel the intensity and silent speaking between Yuki and Itsuomi-san each time they look at each other. Their fascination of each other made me fascinated in return. Itsuomi-san is a we...

Sweet love. This is a review of the first 7 books. I've seen a few reviews complain how this series doesn't have any traditional drama (eg. mean girls), and while it's true, I also think this is what makes this such a charming story about exploring being in love the first time. That itself has a lot of drama! It's a tender and butterfly inducing story and I get teary-eyed sometimes because of the sweetness of it. The slow pace makes you really see the growth of these two's relationship - from the careful babysteps of figuring each other out to a relationship full of consent and equality. I love how they make each other swoon, and how well the author portray the strong feelings that are connected to liking someone. I can't wait to get more of this feel-good story about Serina and Mizukawa-Sempai.

Funny – check! Great and engaging plot – check! Amazing drawings – check! This is a story about Futaro, an excellent student whose family is suffering under crippling debt. To earn extra money, his father secures him a job as a tutor for a new student, but Futaro is very surprised when it turns out it is not just one person he has to tutor, but five identical quintuplets sisters that hate nothing more than doing their homework. (And for a good reason. They are struggling in getting passing grades) Futaro is set in for a challenge as all of the sisters hate him on sight alone, and will do anything to get away from him. At first, their relationship is full of distrust and dislike, as the story evolves, it turns into something different. We know very early, in a flashforward from chapter 1, that Futaro someday will marry one of the sisters, and at first that seems unlikely. Futaro is not your typical hero. He's stuck up, anal about homework and has been very busy in achievin...