Manga Reviews (from monthly contest)

[Twinstar]

Review #1

Manga title: Daddy, Please Fall In Love (Koishite Daddy)
Manga artist and author: Kitazawa Kyou
Manga cover picture:

https://i.imgur.com/QkKziT9.png

Review:
One volume story about a recently divorced man, Satou, who has custody of an adorable toddler, Rintarou, and his initially-reluctant-but-eventual falling for his pretty and gay neighbor, Takahashi. Their first encounter was bound to leave negative first impressions, but the lovely Rin is their unwitting cupid and they become close neighbors; Takashi often helping him look after Rin, cooking for the parent-son duo, spending lots of time together.
The pretty art and relatable incidents (with touches of humor and smut) throughout the story will water your crops and clear your skin; serving eye candy and setting your emotions on a ride. I especially enjoyed the side characters introduced and their roles in the story (One is Rintarou’s kindergarten teacher, and the other is a little boy from his kindergarten, Kyo – there is even a separate sequel story around an older Rin and Kyo). All in all, a great read. Give it a shot.

[Twinstar]

Review #1

Manga title: Tonde Hi ni Iru Natsu no Neko
Manga artist and author: Fujimako
Manga cover picture:

(https://i.imgur.com/1M1wps4.png)

Review:
A unique set of stories, this manga contains the stories of 3 pairs of characters in a supernatural/spirit realm setting. What makes this story unique is that the plot is creative, and doesn’t reveal too much in one go, but enough that it’s like solving a mystery, and keeps you guessing until BAM! You figure it out and it’s like WOW.

To give a better idea of the setting without too many spoilers (and since it gets revealed very early on when you start reading this) we start at a bar, and the first story’s characters are established; Natsu – a twin-tailed cat, and what he ended up having to do to get a scoop on a popular erotic novel author, Hyde. Guess what kind of spirit-animal (for lack of a better description) Hyde is? You’ll have to read to find out!

I also especially enjoyed that the 3 stories were linked to each other, but my lips are sealed, no more spoilers from me, go read it!

Oh, one warning! There are plenty of smexy times in this manga, with some elements of dubcon (dubious consent), S/M, bondage, so if that isn’t your cup of tea, please don’t try to drink from it. This Public Service Announcement was brought to you by your friendly neighborhood BL/Yaoi reviewer.

[Twinstar]

Review #1:

Manga title: Spicy & Sugary
Manga artist and author: Norikazu Akira
Manga cover picture:

(

https://i.imgur.com/DlwDFjv.png

)

Review:

One volume story with a couple unrelated short stories at the end. The short side stories appear completely unrelated, and were mostly smut. But the real story mainly revolves around a policeman, Nagai, and a free-loader, Kitahara, who used to go to high school with him. Nagai is the straight-laced, traditional looking (and minded) guy, while Kitahara is the sloppy, seemingly unreliable part-timer (with a handy hand in the kitchen!). And despites Nagai’s complaints and semi-denials, their relationships do progress in a positive manner. It’s got some light, gentle humor, and also has a bit of a story as more back story gets revealed. The very end of the story includes some smut, but overall, sweetness with a bit of a kick, just like the name reveals.

Review #2:

Manga title:

K's Secret

Manga artist:

Morak

Manga cover picture:



Review:

You need some supernatural story with vampires or half-vampires, cute artwork in full color and some nice humor…well, you’ve got it! Plus a super annoying ongoing status, but even that can’t stand between you and this delicious read!

Okay, now seriously, the story started quite in a funny way with Mr. Kim accidentally sending a message to the wrong person, who’s none other than the director of the company he works for. Nothing deadly in the action if it weren’t for the content of “thinking to find a sex partner” which got an automatic reply with “Come to my room at 1”. Yeah, we’re hooked and surely anyone would wanna find out what’s gonna happen now no?! If you’re expecting something sweet, smokin’ sexy, romantic, cute, amazingly hot, well, that’s exactly what you’ll get!

The point is, that this is not only about sex as we might think in the beginning. Things get more intriguing with the introduction of the other characters, the fact that the director - Kangwoo seems to have his own secret and someone is looking to make Kim a full blooded vampire. This seems like a promising start of a great masterpiece.

[Twinstar]

Review #1

Manga title: What’s wrong with having a sh*t personality? (Seikaku Kuzu De Nani Ga Warui)
Manga artist and author: Shishito Karari
Manga cover picture:


(https://i.imgur.com/yoEK5OR.jpg)

Review:
Sweet, simple, yet unique, high school story - starring Hanaura and Tsuzuki.

There were 3 adjectives in the last sentence, and here’s a whole list more that I can use to describe this story: hilarious; awkward; deep; intriguing; heart-warming; sexy!

The draw here is the DRAWing (pun intended) as well as the personalities that also DRAW me in (OK I’ll stop now).

Tsuzuki is considered the most popular guy in school, while Hanaura is like the wallflower that prefers not to be seen or known as he has deemed himself as a piece of ‘trash’. So when Tsuzuki confesses to him, what else is a high school loner to do but to assume that it is probably a punishment or lost bet. At the start, Hanaura really can’t believe Tsuzuki could be sincere, and there are some pretty humorous moments as you think it’s going to be a typical story.

AND THEN, we get some plot twists and get a deeper look into the seemingly hidden reasons and storyline! There is also some smut, which is always a plus!

Definitely worth a shot! (and if you liked this one, I’d suggest the sequel they have too… but it’s not translated, so I can’t….*soft cries*)

[Twinstar]

Review #1

Manga title: Mr Mini Mart (Konbini-kun)
Manga artist and author: Junko
Manga cover picture:

(https://i.imgur.com/kMzFcCc.jpg)

Review:

Endou Hiroshi and Yamai Kouhei meet each other through a typical circumstance… They work together at a convenience store. But the first impression Endou has of his coworker is that he looks like a delinquent-tyrant-type character! Being the meek and timid person he is, it felt like a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless things change for the better for our protagonists when Endou accidentally sees the occurrence of Yamai rescuing a kitten from the middle of the road. (Fangirl thought: Yamai is so MOE! T/N: I don’t know how to describe moe!) Their relationship as friends gets much warmer after that. But the plot throws in some of Endou’s old school mates, and Endou’s past that he is trying to escape comes to the forefront. Through some revelations and tribulations, the BL outcome does occur!

Overall, a simple 1 volume story with cute chars, cute art, and minor smexy scenes, that ought to bring a smile to your face.

[Twinstar]

Review #1

Manga title: Flower and Bunny | Hana to Usagi
Manga artist: Chiaki Kashima
Manga cover picture:

https://i.imgur.com/lZDokI1.png


Review:
This is a one volume manga composed of 3 stories.
The first story and the longest is quite uncommon and cute in it’s way, it is definitely funny most of the time as well as frustrating. Ryouta’kun is in charge of delivery for Aizawa-san’s street, but on their first encounter Ryouta is totally surprised to see the big guy signing his papers wearing a huge-creepy rabbit head. Thing that keeps repeating daily making Ryouta getting all types of ideas, until one day when he accidentally spots Aizawa-san without the rabbit head…

Second story features the attempts of the student council president, Segawa, trying to convince the talented student pianist, Fujimura, to perform in the culture festival.

And the third story presents the struggles of Tatchan and Shouhei in their relationship.

All stories were good, but if I were to pick the one I found most funny and memorable, that would be the third despite it’s short length. Still, all of them present different aspects of struggles both on a personnel and relationship level. The artwork is good and we get some steamy scenes as well.

Review #2

Manga Title: DistopiA ~An Incomplete World~ (Romaji: DistopiA ~Mikansei na Sekai~)
Manga Artist: Ichinomiya Shihan
Manga Cover Picture:

https://i.imgur.com/6lfSrtk.jpg?1

Review:
Kirishima Haru has it all: good looks, sparkling personality, and the ability to excel at everything he does. Unfortunately, being perfect is boring, and Haru loses interest in anything he does within three hours.

One day, Haru receives a call from his brother asking him to help debug a game their company is producing… the same game Haru programmed in high school in three hours. It’s a virtual reality dating simulation in which players create an avatar that can fall in love with and date the various NPCs (non-player characters) or other players, and the virtual reality technology lets players feel like they’re really in the game world.

Haru agrees to help debug the game, and as soon as he logs in, he literally runs into the first NPC—a plain-looking man with low in-game stats named Takatsuki Ichi. Haru is initially unimpressed, wondering if perhaps such a plain NPC is a glitch, and tells Ichi that falling in love with him is “impossible.” When Ichi runs into an invisible wall and sadly mentions that he’s never seen the ocean, Haru makes a startling declaration: he’ll take Ichi to the sea… in three hours.

DistopiA is a slow-burn romance (with just a bit of smut) that explores the difference between reality and virtual reality, functioning and glitching. Haru, the perfect prince bored of real life who finds vivid color in an incomplete game world, and Ichi, the NPC who has never fallen in love with a player before, have a lot of hurdles to overcome if they’re to obtain the best ending.

Overall: cute story and average to above average art. A little heavy on the philosophy, but in the end it’s still a fun read that will leave you with a smile on your face.

Review #3

Manga title: Virgin Nana-kun Fall in Love (Doutei Nana-kun Foreign Love)
Manga artist and author: Mike Nako
Manga cover picture:

https://i.imgur.com/0Lw72HK.jpg

Review:
If you look closely at the cover art, you see the dark haired one holding a certain familiar packet. The two heart bubbles also show something that implies something with plenty of heat and excitement, and I don’t mean no firetruck. Yet this manga is actually more on the sweet side (Still has a decent dash of spicy though!).

Nana-kun is the light-haired one. And he’s good-looking and charming and many other positive and NICE attributes. Let's not forget that he is, as the title suggests, a virgin. However, his naturally cool personality has people considering him a smooth operator~. Yes, he’s ironically labelled a playboy.

So as he gets to know his new friend, the dark-haired, straight forward, and openly not straight (pun intended), Mizuno, Nana-kun ends up requesting his help to ‘practice’ so he can graduate from him virgin status.

The story and characters are seriously so adorable and cute and FLUFFY. There was one scene in particular that caught me by surprise and I was choking down laughter. It’s a short read, so have a read and post about your favorite part, let’s see if we match, or if I just have a super weird sense of humor!

[ellymate]

Review #1

Manga title:At the End of the Road
Manga artist:Haribo


Review:

This is a story with a lot of twists, incredible artwork and a spoon of laughter, the best recipe for a great read that will keep you captivated till the end.

A story about abuse, harassment, bulling, rape and a strong bond that transcends death. Yoon Tae Min and Min Woo Jin share a past, but due to some events they are split up and grow apart, only to meet again after Yoon Tae Min recovers from a car accident, but he finds himself in a different body.

Yes, you might think this is not your type of story, but trust me it is, because the body he finds himself in has to face a lot of struggles and has a difficult past about which he slowly learns day by day, while facing the cruelty of his peers and his own brother, and the negligence of the adults around him. But with this new chance at life, Yoon Tae Min gets also the chance to great education, thing he always wanted and is decided to do everything he can to make the best out of it. On the other hand, Min Woo Jin is completely different from the weak, abused and lonely kid that Tae Min used to know, he’s now more calculated, comes from a good family and has gotten a real dark side to him.

This is the sort of story that shows the struggles to survive in a twisted society and how you seize your own happiness.

Review #2

Manga title: Karasugaoka Don't be shy!!
Manga artist: YUKURA Aki

Manga cover picture:

Review:

A story about two rival gang leaders that are like the protection squad of their town, Karasugaoka. Izuhara protects the East side while Shinba protects the West side. Izuhara always visits the West side so he can ‘accidentally run into’ Shinba.

Unbeknownst to Shinba, Izuhara is actually in love with him. However, in front of Shinba, Izuhara can’t help but acts like a delinquent and constantly picks a fight with him. This is just a face he show Shinba to hide his real, embarrassed and shy self.

To everyone else, Izuhara is a kind, helpful and pure person. He is especially adorable when he’s fanboying over Shinba in front of his gang members. A very cute gap moe character.

Follow their adventures as they uncover scams and protect the people of their small town.

The artwork is beautiful and both main characters are your typical bishounen. This manga made me laugh out loud at several scenes. It’s super funny, very fluffy and perfect for people who prefers shounen-ai cause it doesn’t have smut. The downside to this manga is it’s too short!