Input: [Read all▲▼] Gravitation EX (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Maki Murakami only finished one volume of this Gravitation sequel before abandoning it. It's been quite some time since I've read the original series. About the only positive I can give to EX is Murakami's art looks a bit more polished than I remember, and it was nice seeing all the characters again. Unfortunately, the plot is nonsensical. The more outlandish elements that saturated the later volumes of the original are in full force here, like the giant robot panda, also plenty of guns, explosions and silly violence. Most of the characters appear here, kinda like a reunion show. The bare bones "plot" is wrapped up at the end of the volume, so I'm perfectly content to end it here. As it is, this book adds nothing to the original story. I would have been better off rereading that instead.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gravitation (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the first yaoi manga I have read and overall, I enjoyed it. One thing that was especially noteworthy was the lack of the traditioal female role in the romance. I found that refreshing, as it allowed Shuichi to persue his career and call Yuki out on being an asshole, something I've never seen with shojo heroines. Usually they just focus on making the man happy, no matter how much of a dick he is, and have no aspirations other than that. *Pukes* the humor in the story occasionally ventured in to over-the-top territory (the giant robotic panda!?), but it managed to be very funny at times too. I found that I enjoyed this manga a lot more than the anime as well.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Gorgeous Life of Strawberry Chan (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is basically a gag manga about a boy and his pet frog. It is utterly plotless and silly, and full of Morinaga's WTF style humor. In this case, the humor is hit or miss. It took most of this first book for me to warm up to the characters and start finding some of the jokes funny. I got most of my laughs from the second book, "The Super Cool Life of Strawberry Chan".

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gorgeous Carat Galaxy (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a sequel to Gorgeous carat, although it reads more like a side story. Noir and Florian head out to one of Florian's aquaintence's estates in order to inspect some art and encounter a gothic style murder mystery. Yep, this one has a creepy castle with secret pathways and the requisite mentally ill relative. The book itself doesn't address anything left hanging at the end of the original series, so I was a little disappointed with it. The story itself just wasn't as intesting as the last series as well. I was still entertained but I just didn't like it as much.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gorgeous Carat (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Gorgeous Carat was more entertaining than I had expected it to be. It's a fun sort of historical adventure series about a couple of aristocrats, one of which who is a jewel thief. This is another of Higuri's series which takes place in exotic locales, this time France and Northern Africa at the turn of the 20th century. It's probably far from historically accurate, but it is something different, which I appreciate and You Higuri's art depicts it wonderfully. The story arc about the Templars' treasure wraps up at the end of the fourth volume, but some threads are left hanging, such as the relationship between the lead characters and the fate of the Black Hand. I only hope that Higuri goes back to this someday and continues it, as there is still a story left to tell.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Golden Prince and Argent King (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This one volume story reads just like a cheesy soap opera, full of melodrama and ridiculousness. An orphaned high school boy is taken in by his rich grandfather and goes to live with older two half brothers. He falls in love with the older one, and both are into him, while later it's revealed that he's not actually blood related to the older one. The art was wooden and amateurish and the plot was laughable. Actually, the story is the least of this thing's problems. It was just terribly written with stilted dialog, horribly drawn expressions and nonexistent characterization. I was just barely entertained and objectively I can admit that it wasn't very good.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Golden Cain (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: In Golden Cain, a self destructive young man begins an affair with Cain, a model. I enjoyed this one, mostly because the characters were interesting. Both were a little messed up, which made for an entertaining read. Golden Cain was memorable, which isn't something I can say for Sweet Revolution, which I also read today.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Glass Sky (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I'm beginning to like Yugi Yamada. Glass Sky is a book of short stories. I'm usually not a fan of short stories, because they don't allow for a lot of depth. However, these were pretty entertaining. Yamada's art style is growing on me and she does have a flair for expressions and comedy. I'm looking forward to reading more of hers.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Girl Got Game (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Girl Got Game is a cute and funny romantic comedy with a basketball theme. There isn't much actual basketball in the story though, it's mainly used as window dressing. The characters were cute and I really liked Kyo. I was happy to see her kick some ass and not be a submissive doormat. I hate seeing women portrayed that way and having it looked at as some sort of feminine ideal. I know it's common in shojo manga, but it still touches a nerve, which is why I get excited when the heroine has an actual personality beyond pleasing her man. The art was standard shojo style, which gets the job done, but doesn't stand out in any way. What made this story was Kyo herself, and the humor of her dealing with her teammates. The humor totally worked in this manga.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Ghost Slayers Ayashi (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a two volume adaptation of the Bnes anime Ghost Slayers Ayashi. Ususally, manga adaptations are pretty bad, but this one is passable. However, the manga assumes familiarity with the anime and doesn't spend much time on introductions. Like the anime, it is episodic. Volume one is broken up into two stories, and volume 2 contains one whole story. The art retains the style used in the anime as well and comes across quite nicely on the page. I was mildly entertained by this short series. It isn't anything mindblowing, but for fans of the anime, it's worth checking out.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Ghost in the Shell (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I watched the movies and the TV show before reading this. While this was pretty much more of the same, I enjoyed the movies and the TV much better. First, the good: the art in this was in the ultra detailed 80's style and it was beautiful. The stories were very well written. Some of them were adapted into the TV series while others were combined for the movie. The bad: The art suffered from a sort of cheap sleazy porn asthetic. Every female character appeared in some sort of stripper gear while the rest of the (male) characters were dressed in normal clothes. I don't mind nudity, but the disconnect with the way the male and female charcters were portrayed sort of hindered my enjoyment of the story. It's hard to take the Major seriously when she's portrayed in the strpper squat, cameltoe on display. Thankfully, the fanservice aspect wasn't present in the movies. All the nudity there made sense in the context of the story and didn't feel cheap and pandering. I also felt the movies was more tightly plotted, as the manga stories sort of meandered a bit, jumping from one case to another without much to connect them. Because of these issues with the manga, I enjoyed the anime much more and will stick to that in the future for my GITS fix.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gerard & Jacques (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Gerard and Jaques has a unique premise in that it's set just before the French Revolution and stars a fallen aristocrat and a wealthy writer. Like another truly excellent Europe based manga, Victorian Romance Emma, I found the characters to be believably European. (A lot of manga creators seem to fail at this). Not only were the characters above par, the plot exceded my expectations too. Out of all the Fumi Yoshinaga manga I've read so far, this one ranks up there with Antique Bakery as one of my favorites.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gentlemen's Agreement Between a Rabbit & a Wolf (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Once again a short story collection that will be forgotten in an instant. The title story is about a couple of bickering coworkers forced to wear animal suits to promote...something ? never explained. They bang, the end. On the positive Oumi's art is great. Too bad the rest isn't.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] A Gentleman's Kiss (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a BL about two sons of rival "business yakuza" groups. When the story opens, the two are adults and have been together for several years, keeping their relationship a secret. It has a bit of a Romeo and Juliet (or Romeo) vibe, except the factors keeping them apart are mostly internal. One half of the couple is insecure about admiting his feelings and is also afraid to commit due to family and etc. I liked this rare romance about adults. It does feature some romance cliches, such as the doomed to fail rival and an overwrought hospital scene near the end. Still, it was a good, entertaining read. Shinri Fuwa's art is of the barebones backgroundless variety, and her men are occasionally anatomically challenged, but I do like that she draws men looking like men. Overall, I liked this story and it does hold up to a second reading.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gente - Ristorante no Hitobito (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a prequel to Ristorante Paradiso. The story begin with the opening of the restaurant and follows the employees, both former and current. This is a slice of life manga about average people. I enjoyed reading about adults with adult problems. Unfortunatley, I really didn't find these people that interesting. Perhaps it's because there were so many characters, some who looked alike, and not enough page time to really delve into each one. The orginal book, Ristorante Paradiso, handled this much better, focusing almost soley on Nicoletta and her mother and fully deveolping their cinflict. In the end, I did like this series, although not as much as I was hoping.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Genshiken (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Genshiken is a fun and realistic slice-of-life comedy about a bunch of otaku and their school club. The characters were well written and memorable. I found Kasukabe's reactions to the various nerdly activities priceless. I got a laugh out of the initiation ritual as well. The manga is pretty much full of anime and manga references and both pokes fun at and celebrates otaku culture. I don't consider myself an otaku, but I enjoyed it greatly nonetheless.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Genkaku Picasso (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This short three volume series is about Hikari, a runty antisocial boy who draws pictures. One day he and his only friend are in an accident, and he gains the power to draw pictures of the inside of peoples hearts. These are usually surreal in nature and have to be decoded in order to solve the person's problem. Hikari has to help people or else his body will rot. The premise was really interesting, but the execution is of the standard shounen "problem of the week" variety. Fortunately, the art in this is fantastic, and made up for the mediocre writing. Since, it was such as short series, it never had the chance to get stale either. The ending was a little trite and touchy feely but a least it did end. I can understand a kid friendly ending for what ultimately is just a kid's series, although a more creative one than I'm used to seeing. Overall, I enjoyed it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gay's Anatomy (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an earlier work by You Higashino. The art is not as strong as her later works. Her style is still the same but it's not as consistent, with some oddly proportioned faces. It seems as if she tried to write a "romance" here as well, but it's rife with tired tropes like the huge demanding guy dominating the girly blushing one. Bleh. She should just stick to porn. The "love scenes" in this book aren't as adventurous as I've come to expect from her later work as well. So, while in general I'm a Higashino fan, this isn't a very good book.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gatcha Gacha (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: The first volume of this is very promising. It is your standard high school set shoujo romantic comedy, yes, but the characters are a bit different than your regular stock 2D cutouts. The heroine, Yuri, is a serial dater, described as having "turned every knob in the school". She befriends a beautiful, bad natured girl named Motoko. she has a crush on a notorious womanizer, and the straightlaced class prez has a crush on her. For the most part, I enjoyed this manga, the characters are interesting and their interactions make for some fun. What bored me was the overly melodramatic past involving Motoko, her sister and Yabe. Volume 7 in particular was a low point in the series, as it focused almost soley on Motoko and an old friend from junior high. What made the series most interesting was Yuri, her strange friendship with Motoko and her misadventures with love. I was also sort of disappointed that there was no resolution for Hirao. Sure he was pretty spineless for most of the story, but he really steps up in those last few volumes, so I was rooting for him. Oh well, The series is certainly well worth reading as it is a bit different from a lot of what's available for high school shoujo romances.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] GALS! (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: I'm more familiar with the GALS! anime since I saw that first. I've read five volumes of the manga so far and I'm not liking it as much. I've had the rest of the series sitting on my shelf and I'm finding it hard to drum up any excitement to read it. It's still the same lighthearted shoujo comedy, but I find the jokes and situations duller without color, sound and voices. Also, maybe it's not as funny the second time around. Or, maybe I just have to be in the right mood to enjoy this thing. I'm not expecting my opinion will improve, but I'll slowly finish the last five volumes and report back. I just finished volume six. I'm really disliking Otohata at this point. The prevailing message here seems to be some sort of "keep chasing him even if he doesn't express any interest in you" and "he's only a dick to you for your own good" sort of BS. Yes, Aya is a huge pushover, but their relationship is skeeving me out. This is another variation on the standard shoujo doormat herione falls for jerky guy scenario. Four more volumes to go. Aaand I've managed to slog through volumes 7 and 8. What's really not doing it for me is the screechy slapstick. Yelling and Exaggerated reactions leave me cold in the humor department. I've finally finished the last two volumes! Sadly, the series never managed to engage me. The humor didn't click, I found the drama boring, and I couldn't connect with the characters. It's strange to me that I had this reaction, because I did end up enjoying the anime. It isn't a favorite, but I did like it. For some reason though, this manga left me cold.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gakuen Heaven Nakajima ver. (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This incarnation of Gakuen Heaven is a little bit better than the first, but that's not saying a lot. The story is still shallow and cheesy, but You Higuri's art somewhat makes up for it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gakuen Heaven (manga by You Higuri) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: The story is generic and crappy. The only reason to read this is You Higuri's art.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Gaba Kawa (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I've enjoyed all of Rie Takada's work so far and Gaba Kawa is no different. It is about a demon girl who is sent to earth in order to do evil deeds and capture souls to send to hell. Unfortunately for her, she falls in love with a human boy. I found it very funny. Takada is spot on with comedy. My only complaint was the ending. It wasn't good. In fact, it was the cheapest reincarnation gimmick I've ever seen. Other that that though, I did find Gaba Kawa a fun read.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Future Lovers (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: What a great story this was! I found the plot to be wonderfully realistic and the characters were memorable and 3-dimentional. It was a good mixture of LOL moments mixed with well written romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Fushigi Yûgi (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: It's been several years since I've seen the anime. so I decided to sit down and read Yuu Watase's classic "girl gets sucked into a fantasy realm" manga. This manga has been cribbed from so much that it's hard to go back and read it with fresh eyes. On the other hand, the cast is so memorable and the melodrama so over the top that I couldn't help but get into it anyway. The lead, Miaka, is the dumbest twit ever to grace a reverse harem shoujo, in my opinion. In true harem fashion, she's surrounded by lots of handsome men who inexplicably fall for her. The setting is fun, a fantasical ancient China, in which gods, demons and magic are commonplace. Miaka must collect her seven warriors and summon the god Suzaku to bring peace to the land. Overall, I found it mildly entertaing. I can only wonder if I would have connected better with this story if had read this when i was much younger. Then I would have been less critical of it's many flaws, such as the dumb as a box of rocks lead, the contrived way all these dudes seem to fall for her (like how she turned Noriko straight), or the character actions that are improbable or over the top (Yui for example). To be honest, the whole thing is kinda dumb, but then again, I am not a twelve year old girl. I'm glad I at least read this once.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Full House (manhwa) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This manhwa makes use of several hoary old romance tropes, such as The Marriage of Convenience and The Big Misunderstanding. Yet, even though I knew when the creator was going with the story, I still found myself hooked. Ryder and Ellie were such a well matched couple that I couldn't help but root for them. In stories like this, it's about the journey than the destination. Soo Yon Won is also the creator of one of my favorite, Let Dai. While this story isn't quite as fresh, I still found it highly enjoyable. Her art is lovely and detailed, with beautiful character designs and excellent background art. Unfortunately, this series has only been published up to volume four. I had to make due with the dreaded scans to get the rest of the story. I would absolutely love to have the rest of the series on my shelf though.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Fruits Basket (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I know this is massively popular, but I only marginally enjoyed it. *ducks the rotten tomatoes* Perhaps if I had read this as a young teen instead of a grown adult, it would have had more of an impact on me. From my perspective, it seemed to wallow in the melodrama, almost like it was forced. Bad characters are super evil and twisted and the good characters were oh so good and it was a little bit unbelieveable to me. Tohru in particular I had a problem with, other than being perfectly good and saintly, she had no personality or character development what-so-ever. On the other hand, Kyo and Yuki both go through changes and I felt this series was more about them than anyone. Takaya's art also matures thoughout the series, as she visible ages up her characters as time goes on. On the other hand, her character designs do not have a lot of variation, so sometimes I got them mixed up. I did think the main romace between Kyo and Tohru was sweet and nicely written, if (again) a bit too melodramatic. Their reasons for being apart struck me as overblown, but maybe that's my adult perpective. I do remember being a teen and thinking inconsequential things were much more important than they really are, but as an adult I can't help but thinking it's a bit stupid. My final verdict: the series was just "good", nothing great and I doubt I'll ever reread it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] From Up Above (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This series was published in 2006 and has only the one volume published but it ends with a "to be continued". I appears it has been abandoned and it doesn't look like the mangaka is working on anything else either. (Maybe got tired of the slave wages and got another job?) Regardless, this book isn't really that good. A boy is struck by lightning and is now followed around by some sort of cat/lightning god who was sealed away by the boy in a previous life. The cat/man thing is demanding the boy give him back his "mana" but the boy doesn't remember a thing. Near the end, the pair encounter another god/demon thing and the book ends just as a confrontation is imminent. The set up is kinda interesting, but since it ultimately doesn't go anywhere the book just feels pointless. As it is, I can't recommend this one.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] From Far Away (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: From Far Away is your basic "girl gets sucked into another realm" shojo story. This series was excellent for the first few volumes, but the plot really slowed down around the mid point. As for the art, it was fairly good, but not outstanding. Overall, I enjoyed From Far Away, but I don't think it's one of the more memorable series I've read. I'd give it a B-/C+

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Freefall Romance (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: The plot can be summed up as "romance between coworkers". It's simple but for a one volume story, it worked. I thought it was decent. I liked the art as well. I recently reread this as I didn't know at the time it was part of a larger story. I think I appreciated it more having had a little backstory on the main character. I've also read a lot more yaoi between now and then and having come across so many duds makes this story look so much better. It's simple, yes, but it is well written for what it is: a nice clean salaryman romance.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] A Foreign Love Affair (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: The plot is simple. A Yakuza guy on honeymoon with his arranged marriage bride ends up having an affair with an Italian dude. Pretty much this manga's point is to undress a guy in a kimono. The plot is shallow, but the naked parts are hot. Ayano Yamane's art is really detailed, and she draws "manly". Anyway, I wasn't expecting great literature when I read this, just simple entertainment, for which it succeeded.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Forbidden Dance (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an early work from Hinako Aishihara, the mangaka who brought us "Sand Chronicles", and it shows. Whew! It's rough. The art is very sloppy, with proportions all over the place. The thing looked like it was drawn by a class of five year olds, seriously. The plot and characters are similarly underdeveloped. Ashihara admits that this was her very first serialization, so I will cut her some slack as she obviously improved on her later series. A couple of the oneshots used to pad out the volumes hint at being better. In these, the mangaka was able to create some high drama, which the main story tried and failed to achieve. Thankfully this was only four volumes long and I found it interesting as a curiousity; an early work from a decent mangaka.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Flowers & Bees (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Flowers and Bees is an absolutely hilarious story of a guy who will go to great lengths to get girls to like him. Unlike a lot of other comedies, this one actually goes somewhere, neatly concluding the story in just 7 volumes. I liked the character designs as well; everyone had their own distinct look, even the ugly people. My only teeny tiny complaint is that I wish the end hadn't been so abrupt. Other than that, I loved it!

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Flower of Life (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an excellent high school slice-of-life manga by Fumi Yoshinaga. Her characters are always so human and realistic, as is the way they interact. Her plots never feel contrived or cliche. Her humor is truly funny. Its more subtle and not of the gag/slapstick variety. Really, I haven't read a bad manga by her yet, and Flower of Life is no exception. I loved it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Flower in a Storm (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: The premise of this two volume series is completely ridiculous, and the mangaka knows it. It doesn't take itself seriously, which is a point in its favor. It's also entertaining. But, it crossed the line from ridiculously fun to just stupid a few times and I started to lose interest. I liked the two bonus stories at the end of each volume far more than the main story. They're both serious, understated romance stories and I thought they were much more well written. I'd like to read a longer work from this mangaka in her more serious style. This silly manga with its wacky premise fell flat for me.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Flat Earth Exchange (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I've read and seen this premise before, in which the protagonist is cryogenic-ally frozen and wakes up to find a very changed future world. This one really doesn't offer anything new, but I enjoy these types of stories, so I was entertained. The mangaka wrote the first few volumes much earlier than the conclusion and it shows. The earlier art looks very dated to the vastly improved later chapters. Since the series is only four volumes long, a lot of the charcters are short changed in development, and a lot of plot threads are left dangling. Fortunately, s/he managed to wrap it up with the conclusion of a story arc so it still feels satisfying even though it needs a sequel.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) First Stage of Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here's another collection of short stories. These were extremely forgettable. I can barely remember them scarcely an hour after reading it. Oh wait, the last story about the fat kid was a cut above the others, but still it was far too short. I keep reading these short story collections, but very few of them have managed to impress me.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Feverish (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Feverish was very bland and completely generic. I can scarcely remember it just minuted after finishing it. Nothing about it stood out in nay way. It wasn't offensive, just really boring, with boring cardboard cutout characters and a boring shallow plot. There is much better BL out there. Read that instead.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Family (manga by Yuuya) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: Not much to write about here, as the story is about as shallow is it comes. It features a "love" triangle between three brothers, the middle one being adopted. This was originally published as doujinshi according to the mangaka. It really nothing more than pointless smut.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Falling into Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Nothing I've read by Takashi Kanzaki has been any good. The stories have all been typical yaoi fare full of the same old tropes. This book is no different, but I like her art, so I keep giving her books a chance.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] A Fallen Saint's Kiss (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: All of You Higashino's work I've read so far has been plotless smut and this book is no different. This one is a BDSM themed student/teacher high school thing. Higashino's art style tends to run toward the angular and masculine, so her schoolboys look a little old and that's cool with me. There's also no hearts/flowers/sparkle in this book, so those looking for sappy romance are sure to be disappointed. As far as I'm concerned, the book succeeds at what it's trying to do. I thought it was hot.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Fallen Moon (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an antholgy collection. I hesitate to call these short stories as they're more like story fragments. The collection is choppy, since the fragments aren't related. I found the whole thing to be poorly written overall. The art isn't bad though. Character designs are sufficiently detailed and the panels are not devoid of backgrounds. Having read another lackluster offering by this mangaka, Othello, I'm going to be giving future works a pass. Hopefully licensors do as well, because it's a shame that forgetable dreck like this gets published while many quality titles remain unlicensed.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Fake Fur (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I was pleasantly suprised by this manga. I found the relationships depicted within to be a lot more realisticly portrayed than the majority of romance manga. No eyeroll inducing, cheesy, sappy lines or contrived situations are used. I found it refreshing and I really liked it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] FAKE (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: When I originally tried this manga, I couldn't get into it. I had read two volumes and thought the "mystery" plots were boring and cheezy and the two kids, Bikky and Carol, were annoying as hell. (WTF kind of name is Bikky anyway?) I recently tried it again, as it is a BL classic and I wanted to see if my opinion had changed. Now, since I now have more familiarity with the genre, I can appreiciate Fake for what is is: basically a homosexual buddy cop story. The interactions between the main characters is where this series shines. The dialog is quite funny. The actual plot of the series does seem to begin with episodic cases, but as the series goes on they begin to relate to each other to form a larger story. I'd say the weakest plotwise was the hotel murder mystery in volume two. The kids are sill annoying, but thankfully their screen time is diminished as the series goes on. The best thing about this series is the relationship and the natural way it progresses. After reading a ton of short BL oneshots where the characters declare their love in chapter one and get in on in chapter two, something like Fake with it's actual plot and slower progression is a breath of fresh air. I'm so glad I gave this series another chance. I totally get it now.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Exotic and Delicious Fate (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Miyagi is a restaurant manager who enters into a relationship with the new chef. The plot of this was soap opera like. Miyagi turns out to be a "secret baby", and the chef is hiding a secret as well. This could have been entertaining if the characterization were not flimsy as hell. I will not remember these characters tomorrow.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Everlasting Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here we have yet another collection of BL short stories. This one is average and forgettable for the most part. There was one story that was a slight cut above the rest, but they all basically share the common problem that short stories tend to have, and that's a lack of depth.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Eureka Seven (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I watched the anime before I picked up this manga. While the story was the same in general, the way it unfolded was a bit different, so it was more like an alternate retalling than a rehash of the previous material. The character designs were kept intact from the anime, which I appreciated, because I did like the art in Eureka Seven quite a bit. Since the manga is only 6 volumes long, much of the character and relationship development is skimped on. It's not so much of a problem if you've seen the anime, because you are able to fill in the blanks yourself. If I hadn't seen it, I don't think I would have enjoyed reading this nearly as much. Eureka Seven is one of my favorites, and I liked being able to revisit the story and characters again. I thought the manga was pretty good.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (La) Esperança (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I took me a couple of volumes to warm up to this title. Once the characters grew on me however, I found myself wanting to find out what happens next. La Esperanca is a very chaste school boy romance set in catholic boys school in a pseudo European France-like country. I liked the atmospheric art and cathedral settings. I felt Kawai's wispy ephemeral art was well suited to such a setting. The plot was very angsty and almost crossed the line for me at times into pure melodrama. It managed not to go too far though and I enjoyed it very much.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] ES (manga) [Rating▲▼] Masterpiece [Comment▲▼]

Output: What a great story ES was! A perfect length at eight volumes long, ES was an evenly paced and compact story. No endless filler here. I also really like Soryo's art style. Her characters are drawn with very clean lines and the backgrounds are nicely detailed. It was refreshing to read about adult characters for once as well. I liked ES so much that I can't think of one complaint. This definitely tops Mars as Fuyumi Soryo's best.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Entangled Circumstances (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a rather run of the mill salaryman romance. One man is being pursued singlemindedly by the other, who finally wears down his object of affection and gets his guy. It's short, predictable and nothing new. Also, Kikuya's art style is not really to my tastes, as the characters are drawn too boyish looking to be adults. If this was a schoolboy romance, the style would fit right in. Ultimately, the book was mildly entertaining, but nothing more. I doubt I'll remember it tomorrow.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Endless Rain (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This one can be best summed up as a melodramatic soap opera. The plot and characters are pretty shallow. It's not a memorable book, but I thought it was fun and entertaining, and that's about it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Empty Heart (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I liked Masara Minase's wonderfully twisted "Lies and Kisses" and found this book to be enjoyable too. At the start of the story, Takumi is already in love with his older brother's friend who also happens to be his teacher. The teacher used to be in love with Takumi's brother Ryuuta. Takumi throws himself at Usami sensei in hopes that he will notice him. Despite how this sounds, the age difference isn't really a factor here. Minase draws characters with a more "adult" look, so Takumi looks more like an older teen instead of a blushing schoolboy. Usami is only a few years older as well. So a premise that could have been creepy is just only mildly inappropriate. My only annoyance was Usami's out of town friend who randomly shows up and crashes at his place. I found his accent annoying to read and he was basically a cheap plot device to get the characters to admit their feelings. I also wish it had been a bit longer. A lot of these BL one shots are so short that they don't have much emotional impact, unlike say a "Let Dai" where the romance has to develop over many volumes. Other than that, it was entertaining for what it was. I do like Minase's work and I hope to see more of it in the future.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Emma (manga) [Rating▲▼] Masterpiece [Comment▲▼]

Output: I actually put off reading this for awhile, as I wasn't immediately grabbed by the first volume. Once I picked it back up and read further, I couldn't put it down. The level of detail in the art alone is just amazing. I've never read something set in another country that feels so authentic. The mangaka surely did her research. The story is a romance between a maid and a man from a well off family and the difficulties they face due to the class difference. It is fleshed out with a large cast of characters, many of whom are revisited in the side stories in volumes 8-10. The ending was absolutely perfect, a giant wedding in volume 10. I loved this series and it will go down as one of my favoirtes.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Emerald (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a collection of short stories by the Blade of the Immortal mangaka. My favorite was the title story, a western. It was the closest to BotI in tone and execution. The others we are a bit more "out there". Some super creepy such as the masochist dad in the second story or just a regular kind of weird like the virtual reality story starring a mangaka. Overall, I enjoyed the collection but the only story with "keeper" value in my opinion is Emerald.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Electric Hands (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I like Taishi Zaou's manga. At first glance they always appear to be your typical cliche stories, but she always seems to mess with the common tropes just enough to make them interesting to me. My favorite story in this anthology was the one with the two brothers who attempt to seduce their new stepbrother. I really wasn't expecting it to go in the direction it did. I really like her art too, her characters are drawn cleanly with nice bold lines. This type of story (anthology of blushing schoolboys) is usually one that gets panned by me, yet I enjoyed this one.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Eerie Queerie! (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a rather silly little series about a high school boy who has an affinity for ghost and is constantly getting possessed. His first possession is a girl who has a crush on one of his classmates. After sending the ghost off to the afterlife, the boys become friends, sort of. This is a boys' love series, so there's a bit more to the relationship between the boys. I thought it was cute and I wasn't annoyed by the silliness of the premise like I usually am with these tyes of series. I think because this is a series and allowed for more room to develop that I was able to get into it. The mangaka admits that this was her first published series and the art was pretty rough in the first volume, but improved greatly by the end of the series. In the end, I mildly enjoyed this series. It's light, silly and fluffy. Just good brainrotting fun.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Eensy Weensy Monster (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is short and sweet two volume romantic comedy from the Kare Kano mangaka. Since it was only to volumes, I was able to enjoy it much more than Kare Kano, which I thought was needlessly drawn out. Instead, here the characters are cute, well written, and manage to work their differences out in the first volume. The second is devoted to their developing relationship. The art is much more polished in this series as well, it is several years newer after all. Overall, I quite liked it. It doesn't break any new ground, but it's a lighthearted and cute diversion.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Earthian (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: The only other Yun Kouga manga I've read has been the truly excellent Loveless. So, perhaps my expectations were too high, because I didn't like Earthian nearly as much. It was "ok" at best. For one, the plot was all over the place, with the story jumping around and introducing random characters and events with seemingly no direction. It did manage to find some cohesion by the end, but it wasn't enough to make up for the chaotic beginning. The art was a bit on the dated side as well. This was clearly an older work when compared to Loveless. Tokyopop's release of this series was excellent though. The books were far above most US releases in quality, with color pages, embossed covers and really nice quality paper/printing. Too bad the content wasn't as good as the packaging. Don't get me wrong, I did mildly enjoy Earthian, even with its flaws.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Durarara!! (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Having already viewed the anime this is based on, reading this manga felt a bit redundant. It is four volumes long and only follows two of the intertwining arcs from the anime, Celty's search for her head and the creation of the Dollars. This isn't a bad adaptation, the story is still fun, the characters are certainly memorable, and the art is decent as well. But overall, I found the anime to be a much richer experience.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Duetto (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Half of this book was taken up by a story about two guys in a long distance relationship. There was a time skip every chapter, which made the whole thing feel rather disjointed. The art and panelling in this one was rather ametuerish as well, as I had trouble reading the flow of events and telling characters apart. The last two stories, which were written later in Kujyou's carrer, saw a marked imporvement visually, but were still paper thin in the writing and characterization department. The second to the last story, "Secret", actually creeped me out, as it featured "father-con". Overall, this thing is just the sort of forgettable poorly written dreck that I dislike and find often in the BL genre.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dry Heat (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: More Yugi Yamada! Having read all her other work printed in English, this is more of the same, with her wonderful humor and expressive art and characters.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dramacon (world manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Dramacon is a three volume short that takes place at an anime convention. Since I've never been to a convention, I had no point of reference for this story. The story was fairly enjoyable and the humor worked for me. I did find the plot to be rather predictable though. Overall, I enjoyed it as a light fluffy read.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dragon Head (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a great entry into the survival horror genre. It was very creepy and my eyes were glued to the page. The plot was quick and action packed and the twists kept coming. The series is absolutely brutal, with almost over the top violence and despair. It's not one I'll reread often, but it has a permanant place on my shelf.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dragon Girl (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Dragon Girl was just another cliche ridden high school set shoujo. The protagonist (whose name I have already forgotten) wishes to join the school's cheering squad. The squad only has one member at the start and is opposed by an elite student council group with the prerequisite cheesy name for such groups: "Platinums". This was about as bland and unoriginal as it gets. Even the big plot twist in volume two was visible from about 10,000 miles away. The characters were particularly underdeveloped, with one note personalities and maybe only the barest mention of any backstory. It helps when using a lot cliches to at least make the characters worth reading about but nope, not here. As for the positives, the art was clean and attractive, and the story was at least inoffensive, if painfully mediocre.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Doubt!! (manga by K. Izumi) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This series is by the same creator as the hilarious Seiho Boys' High School. While the story is not nearly as strong, as it's a typical plain girl makeover gets popular guy scenario, the humor is enough to draw me in, as it can be quite funny. The writing got a little sexist for me a times though, as the underlying message seemed to be something along the lines of being pretty is most important for girls, and dating the handsome playboy is somehow more desirable than your self respect. I don't know why Ai didn't just dump prettyboy-kun when she found out he was three timing her, instead of vowing to "try harder". Some "prizes" really aren't worth winning you know? As a comedy I felt the series succeeded, but as a romance, I felt it completely failed. Even still, I was entertained while reading the series and I felt the main character, Ai, was relate-able, it a bit misguided.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Double Trouble (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is another barely mediocre book by Takashi Kanzaki (His Arrogance, Falling into Love). Here the tired old "all boys school where everyone is queer" trope is dusted off. The main story involves a guy with a split personality, his stepbrother who has a crush on him, and the crusher's roommate who in turn has a crush on him. It is really, really stupid. The guy has a split personality only because the roommate hypnotized him (whut?!). This is also an older book, so the art is rougher, characters go off model and facial proportions are wonky as hell. The only redeeming factor I can give it is that it is just dumb enough to be entertaining.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Double Cast (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This one volume story is an understated romance between two rival actors, one who is an up and coming star and another who's career is starting to decline. The relationship initially starts out antagonistic, with the two guys competing for roles and generally pushing each other to be better. Things eventually turn romantic, and feelings are confessed at the very end. I quite liked this book, as a lot of the tired tropes are missing and both characters look like men. There's no "only gay for you" as both characters easily admit that they prefer dudes. The character's actions are believable as well. My only gripe is the length of the story. I wish it was a bit longer and had more depth, because relationships have far more to them than the initial confession + first kiss. The set up was well done, so I wanted to see more of these characters and how their relationship played out.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dorothea (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This takes place in medieval Germany and features a young albino woman named Dorothea who joins a mercenary group in order to protect her homeland. Because of her red eyes and white hair, she is accused of being a witch and is hunted by religious fanatics and inquistors. Despite the ugliness and violence of the time period depicted here, the setting of this didn't quite feel authentic. I prefer to look at the story more as a "medieval" fantasy romp, rather like those fantasy novels featuring some chick in chainmail on the cover wielding and impossibly heavy looking sword. In that vein, Dorothea is a very entertaining little action series. Even the fake middle ages style dialog adds to the fun. (Zounds!) The art isn't bad, though it doesn't have a discernable style, but it doesn't detract. It does focus a little too closely on Dorotheas tits at times, which made sense when I learned the mangaka mostly writes Hentai manga. Despite that, I did enjoy this little six volume action/historical/fantasy series. I'm not going to run out and read the mangaka's other output though. =/

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Don't Say Anymore Darling (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a collection of short stories from the same manga-ka as Antique bakery. I found it pretty uneven. A couple of the stories I really liked, but then I'd read something like that android story (Ewww!) or that "last man on Earth" thing (WTF?). So, while the selection was diverse, I was overall unimpressed. This collection doesn't hold a candle to other works by Fumi Yoshinaga.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Don't Rush Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Mio Tennohji's manga are all of the "plot, what plot" variety. This book, "Don't Rush Love" is no different. It trots out the tired old "all boys school where everyone is queer" trope yet again, and has a couple of boys rooming in dorms who hook up. There isn't much to say about this, as characters were pretty cardboard and there was a lot of sex. Frankly, I just found it tiresome. Porn is supposed to be titillating, but this book was rather boring and rote.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Don't Blame Me (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Don't Blame me follows a bunch of college film club members and their relationships. I liked it, but only mildly. Yugi Yamada's art looks really odd from some angles and really good from others. It's distinctive though, I'll give her that. The plot was decent, if not spectacular. The characters were sort of forgettable. I was entertained by this, but I thought Close the Last Door (also by Yamada) was much better.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dolis (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This was a one volume short about people with Serious Issues. I couldn't relate at all with the characters or the story. It was too "emo" for me. The art was off-putting as well, with very distorted facial features (even for manga). My verdict: give this one a pass.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dogs: Prelude (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This manga contains 4 short stories and is a prequel to the Dogs: Bullets and Carnage series. It's basically a set up introducing all of the characters. It's very faced paced and action packed, and also stylishly drawn, with lots of exaggerated poses and bullet effects. I was entertained by this volume and I really want to check out the main series now, so in that light it was successful in whetting my appetite for more.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dog Style (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I've been extremely disappointed with the quality of BL that's being released lately, so I went back and reread this series. I remember liking it quite a bit the first time around and I'm happy to say it holds up to a second reading. What sets this series apart from all the shallow one shots are some actual honest to goodness three dimentional characters. Teru is a bit of a loner and a delinquent who's been ditched by his best friend in favor of a new girlfriend. Miki has some abuse and abandonment issues and a sort of crush on his best friend. Both the friends in both scenarios are brothers, so Teru and Miki happen to run into each other now and then and form a sort of relationship. Much of the series is about the two exploring their feelings and defining said relationship. It's not all heavy drama though, as Motoni has a knack for comedic expression. There is a bit of comedy in this series, but it's more the situational sort and not the annoying slapstick variety. There are no chibi's in sight. I quite like this series. I like how the character and their feelings are explored in depth and not just glossed over for a cheap happy ending. Both characters were convincing as highschool boys, goofing off and horsing around. They both were drawn in the same style and liked that the mangaka ignored that tired old trope of making one character the "girl" stand in. Even their first time isn't stereotypical with the boys complaining about how it was uncomfortable. (some good comedy there. I laughed.) Even though I've read this, it was just as if not more enjoyable the second time around. I wish more like this was brought over instead bland anthologies and saccarine schoolboy stories.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] A Distant Neighborhood (manga) [Rating▲▼] Masterpiece [Comment▲▼]

Output: A salaryman facing a midlife crisis wakes up to find himself reliving his 15 year old life. It's two volumes long, but the story is complete and satisfying and well developed. In fact, I loved it. Taniguchi's art is really lovely as well.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dining Bar Akira (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is one of the few yaoi I've encounted that could be about actual gay dudes. The characters look and act like regular guys. The plot is simple: a manager at a restaurant gets a confession from one of the waiters. The rest deals with their developing relationship. There are none of the typical yaoi conventions. It's not cutesy, and there are no pretty boys. I found it extremely refreshing and loved it. This one's a keeper.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Devil's Secret (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an anthology by popular BL mangaka Hinako Takanaga. I never really got into her work, and this book didn't change my mind. The stories are all short, shallow and forgettable fare, with cardboard characters and cliche scenarios.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Devil's Infirmary (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I usually have to divorce myself from reality in order to read the more porny BL manga. This book is no different, as it involves a school nurse hitting on his students. It's fine as a porn set-up but it would be icky in real life. This is a typical sex=love plot as well. I was entertained by the book, but it's certainly not Shakespeare.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Devil Does Exist (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: The premise sounded interesting, and it was for the first volume. Other than that I found most of the conflicts to be silly and inconsequential. Since the "drama" was really silly, the plot wasn't very interesting. The characters were pretty boring as well. Kayano was your standard spineless "good girl" type. And Takeru was just dull. I did read to the end just to see how it all turned out, but I prefer more maturity in my romance series.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] A Devil and Her Love Song (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: At first glance this is yet another high school set shoujo romance. What sets this one apart form all the others is a unique heroine. Maria isn't your typical everygirl or a genki tomboy, she's actually the stereotypical popular girl, except she's blunt and speaks her mind which doesn't win her any friends. She transfers into a new school in volume one and quickly makes enemies of almost the entire class. The story is basically about her finding acceptance (and romance of course). I found it to be well done (mostly). There is a plot point where Shin avoids Maria for several volumes that I found a bit overwrought. Otherwise, the series is very good and avoids stepping into soap opera territory.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Desire Sensibility (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a pretty straight forward workplace romance. Kosugi works part time at a customer service call center and has a crush on his boss, Ogata. It doesn't really break any new ground and it's predictable as hell, but I found the story pleasant enough.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Desert Prince (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I like Shu^3 Sakurai's manga. They tend toward stupid silly fun, and this book is no different. The title story is a ridiculously over the top Arabian prince romance and the story after that is a parody of "tough guy" yakuza BL. The rest of the stories weren't so memorable. Even still, I occasionally enjoy reading a book that doesn't take itself seriously at all.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Depression of the Anti-Romanticist (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I actually liked the title story here. The characters meet in bar, where one is a host and the other is a customer, and their relationship develops slowly and naturally and doesn't feel forced. There appears to be effort put into developing the characters some as well. Unfortunately, the story abruptly ends on a cliffhanger. I assume there is going to be a sequel at some point, because as it is this story is clearly unfinished. Years later, a second volume appears! This one wraps up the story nicely. There really isn't any new ground tread here, but the romance is nice and the addition of Mizuki's (sp?) family gives it a nice touch or realism. The flood drama came a bit out of left field, I guess the mangaka couldn't think of a more subtle way to force the characters to admit their feelings at the end. Still, i liked the series overall.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Demon Ororon (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This was only an "OK" read. I was not a fan of the art style either. Something about it felt very chaotic. I occasionally had trouble differentiating between the characters and a lot of the fonts were a pain to read. All of this wouldn't have been a problem if I were completely drawn in to the story. Unfortunately, I wasn't.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Delivery Cupid (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the first CJ Michalski manga I read and it wasn't very good. The title story was about an aspiring cupid (literally) who shoots shady looking target but accidentally stabs himself with his own arrow. Really the stories were all of the "meet, have sex, I love you, the end" type. Boring.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Deeply Loving a Maniac (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is yet another You Higashino smutfest, this time about an otaku, Morita, who transfers his obessions with 2-D anime girls on to Sakura instead. I found this book a little more comedic than expected from a Higashino title. I was amused when Morita couldn't control his fantasizing and it bled into his day to day life. Apparently, this book is the middle book of a three book series. It can be read alone, although I would really like to read the first book, in which Morita and Sakura met and first started going out. Hopefully 801 media will go back and publish it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Dear Myself (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Meh. I didn't find this tale of codependency romantic at all. It's a tale of two high school boys, one who is an amnesiac who has recovered his memories but has forgotten everything in between, including his boyfriend. The boyfriend has abandonment issues. I thought Daigo needed some meds, or better yet, a straight jacket. And what in fresh hell was that short story in World's End, about the 20 yr old being molested by his 18 yr old step dad? Yeah, you read it right. It was creepy as fuck.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Days of Cool Idols! (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a very shallow one shot about a plain glasses wearing boy who transfers to a special school for idols. When he takes off his glasses and puts on a wig, he looks just like another famous (female) idol, who has a stalker and has turned into a shut in. So, he's drafted to be her body double and perform in her place. Yawn. It actually sounds more interesting than it is. It wasn't bad, just very very mediocre, of the sort that I have trouble saying even anythong about it as it leaves that little of an impression. Even the art is undistinguishable from a thousand other generic shoujo.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Day I Become a Butterfly (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This collection of short stories can barely be called boy's love, much less yaoi. For one, I thought the character in the first story was female until I noticed the pronoun. Also, a few of the stories are centered around typical shojo boy X girl relationships. Despite the genre confusion, this is a pretty good set of short stories with a somewhat melancholic portrayal of teen love. I liked it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Dawn of Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here is a simple romance between a college student and a promiscuous classmate. This is the sort of BL I prefer reading, one with adult characters who persue a relationship together, with no rape is love crap or weird fetishy BS. The characters in this story are a bit one dimentional and the plot is super shallow, yet I was entertained by it all the same.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Darkside Blues (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a one volume manga by the Vampire Hunter D creator, Hideyuki Kikuchi. Whenver I read his work, I feel like I've gone back in time to the 90's. This one takes place in a gritty futuristic world controlled by a giant mega corporation, Persona Century. The characters are rebels who fight its tyrannical rule. Into all of this appears "Darkside" who comes into the world driving a carriage through a myserious portal. None of this is ever explained, and I was kinda struggling to see the point of his presence in the story. There are several other characters that appear and do nothing as well. Even the character important to the plot are under developed. In fact, the more I think about it, this book was kinda a nonsensical mess. The one point in it's favor though was the gorgeous art. Very retro and detailed, it made it easier to read about paper thin characters and a plot that barely made sense.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Darker Than Black (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This two volume anime spinoff contained some interesting ideas, but they were poorly executed. The plot just goes along wthout any real explanation. I have never seen the anime (which I have read is much much better), so I was not familiar with the universe beforehand. That lack of explanation makes the story feel somewhat disjointed and hard to relate to. The art doesn't help, it's amaturish at best. The proportions are all wrong, the panel layout lacks flow, and action scenes are poorly laid out and hard to follow. Ultimately, this manga just isn't very good. I'd still like to see the anime though.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Danza (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is yet another short story collection form Natsume Ono that unfortunately I had a "meh" reaction to. The recurring them seemed to be father/son or mentor/subordinate. Many of the stores featured police in some capacity or other. A few were set in Italy. I couldn't really connect with any of them, as they were too short. I imagine it's difficult to attempt to write an emotional story with only a few pages to do so, and these were not successful for me.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cynical Orange (manhwa) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: The manhwaga described this as a "princess manhwa" and I think that sums it up nicely. Hye Min is our physically perfect heroine, yet she's cold and withdrawn and she doesn't have any friends. Next, along comes the love interest to pull her out of her isolation. Naturally, there are a lot of obstacles before the prince rescues the princess from her ivory tower. This manga is a melodrama, plain and simple. The emo quotient was sometimes over the top. I did like that the characters were somewhat multi dimentional. They were fleshed out enough that their actions and motivations made sense. Overall, I found the series to be entertaining, but predictable.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cute Devil (manga, Hiro Madarame) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here's a manga that really messes with that girly pretty boy=bottom trope. "Fuu-chan" is idolized by his classmates for being cuter than a girl and he totally plays people by acting cute and helpless when in reality, his persnality is radically different. When his cutesy act doesn't seem to work on the class president he reverts to his real self; pushy, super demanding and kind of a jerk. This book was the first I had ever read by Hiro Madarame. I love her art, she has a knack for conveying expressions. Her line work is delicate and detailed with a slight sketchy quality and the result is fantastic. I really enjoyed this book and would love to read the sequels. However, with Tokyopop gone, that doesn't look to be very likely. =(

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cute Beast (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: I kept my expectations low for ths anthology so I wasn't disappointed. The first story was the best. I was a little annoyed with the teacher/student story. That teacher was a douche and he should have been fired. The other stories were all pretty mediocre as well. The book was cute and entertaining and that's it. I doubt I'll remember it tomorrow.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cut (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a cut above your usual schoolboy romance. It's not your typical fluffy sweet love story. For one, both boys have serious issues, one with a cutting problem and the other with a screwed up childhood. Anyway, it proceeds in the typical manner, these boys meet and fall in love, etc. It did not however, cross the line into sappy territory, which is a problem I had with another of Kawai's books, "Everlasting Love". "Cut" was dark and the characters were interesting, the plot typical but well executed. It's all I ask for really, in order to be entertained.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crying Freeman (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Crying Freeman is a kind of like a wish fulfilment manga for men. Freeman is kidnapped by the Chinese mafia and indoctrinated into their service as an assassin. He eventually takes over the organization and becomes it's leader. The first volume was the best, but unfortunately the series jumps the shark pretty early in volume two. The situations become increasingly more ridiculous so that they are impossible to take seriously. Freeman is like a Gary Stu, the perfect man who is handsome, excels at everything from art to fighting, and all women (especially his enemies) eventually fall in love with him. By the end he had gathered a harem. One point in the manga's favor was having Ryoichi Ikegami do the art in his photorealistic style. For a manga with so many naked people, at least they were drawn in proportion. The near constant nudity was sometimes laughable though, as characters are alway fighting in the buff for seemingly no reason that makes sense. In the end, this series boils down to nothing more than entertaining schlock. I am not the target audience for sure, but I was interested to see what over the top elements would pop up next and in that regard Crying Freeman didn't disappoint.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crushing Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Only one word needed to describe this manga: Bland. Everything from the plot to the characters to the art were incredibly mediocre. It can't say it was bad, but it wasn't good either, and I doubt I'll ever remember any of it. Heck, I've almost forgotten it already.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crown of Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here, the Loveless mangaka shows us another borderline creepy relationship in Crown of Love. It's about a young man's love bordering on obsession for an idol. He's really intense about it almost like a stalker, yet he's so earnest that I can't help but root for him at the same time. Even though it does work out in the end, I still felt a little uncomfortable about it because the relationship seemed so unhealthy and Hisayoshi's methods were so manipulative. Yun Kouga's writing here is excellent as well, because Hisayoshi is rightly portrayed as a little unbalanced, instead of a romantic hero à la Hot Gimmick. I quite enjoyed the series although not as much as Loveless, which is even more twisted.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crossroad (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This series reminded me quite a bit of Fruits Basket. The characters were likable and I found most of the humor cute. The story got a little melodramatic a times, but since this is the first manga series I've finished, I'm not sure if that's the norm for teenage angst manga. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. This is the first manga series I ever read, and after revisiting it half a decade later, I'm sorry to say that it doesn't old up. It's very been there-done that, as far a story and humor go. Also, the art is crude with flat expressionless faces and little in the way of backgrounds or detail of any kind. Oh well, at least it frees up some shelf space.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cross Game (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I like sports stories and I really liked this, but it isn't a favorite for several reasons. One: baseball is one of my least favorite sports, and this series gets very technical with it. Two: The art is a very cartoony style that is generally not to my taste. Third: this is a shounen i.e. for young boys series, so there was fansevice sprinkled throught, and it seemd as if any development Aoba could have had was sacrificed in favor of Kitamura. Basically, I was not the target audience. For what it was, this is an exceptionally well done and well written baseball manga.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cross (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Cross got a little better as it went on, but it still wasn't very good. The pacing jumped all over the place, the plot barely made sense, and it had no ending. (Did the author just quit?) On a positve note, The art was very pretty.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Croquis (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Hinako Takanaga's style is of the cutesy variety, with effeminate blushing boys and sappy romance. This is generally not to my taste. The only work of hers I really liked was "Little Butterfly", which did have blushing boys, but also had a darker thread of drama woven into it. Everything else has been very forgettable. Granted, I haven't read her most popular work yet, "The Tyrant Falls in Love". "Croquis" is typical of her sappy style. This is an anthology and the stories are all pretty mediocre. It's pretty much the very definition of brain candy: undemanding and sugary sweet.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crimson Wind (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the sequel to White Guardian.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crimson Snow (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a short story collection with three stories. The title story, about an injured yakuza who finds shelter in the home of a young man, is the best. i really like this manga-ka's art style. It's very clean, with distinctive looking characters. She's not afraid to draw very masculine looking characters either. I just wish the young man in the title story didn't look so much like a young woman. In the author's notes in the back, she explains that she was ordered to make the "uke" look more feminine with less muscles, so that explains it, but I wish she had stuck to her guns as the book would have been better for it. As it is, while very entertaining, it's very conventional looking and doesn't push any boundaries at all. As one who is sick of seeing male/female gender portrayals transposed onto two men in BL, this is a point against it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crimson Cross (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I must say I liked this far better than the writer's other US published manga, Jazz. The hate filled relationship between vampire hunter turned vampire and his creator was a lot more interesting than a creepy doctor/patient boys' love series. The book is short, so there isn't a whole lot of plot. Not that there was really anywhere to go with it anyway. After a couple of run ins in which innocent women die, the pattern has been established. The ending is open ended but you easily get the picture. The art in this one was done by the Cafe Kichijouji artist, which was the only redeeming quality of that manga IMO. Overall, an entertaining way to spend a half hour.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Crescent Moon (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Crescent Moon was very mediocre for me. The monsters and magic theme has been done again and again, and I don't feel that this title does anything to distinquish itself from the rest. The art, while not bad, didn't blow me away either. At only six volumes, this story was a quick read and it at least concluded nicely, but I doubt I'll ever re-read it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cool/Uncool (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Truthfully, this was just another run of the mill schoolboy romance boys' love title. It was only mildly entertaining. I thought the initial premise keeping the boys apart was mind numbingly stupid. One of them is self concious about being slightly shorter than his love interest, so he refused to make a move until he was taller than the other boy. Umm, what?! My thought was "good luck with that". The art style illustrated both boys in the same style and didn't cater to stupid yaoi cliches in that both looked masculine and about the same size. As it was, I was losing patience with the idea that the "bottom" has to be little and cute, though thankfully the guy gets over his hangup eventually. So this was an ok, if forgettable book.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Constellations in My Palm (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This was a pretty solid "schoolboys in love" romance. It was pretty much about two boys angsting over their feelings and working up the courage to confess. I liked it, but really it's no different than tons of other shojo romance out there, in which many problems would be solved right away if people would just communicate.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Color of Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Color of Love is a collection of short stories. It was pretty mediocre.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Color (manga by Eiki Eiki) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a collaboration between Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou, who both have a very similar art style. The charaters are artists who discover that both of their paintings at an exhibition have the same title and look eerily similar. This is a loose "BLization" of how both artists became met and became friends. Essentially, its another BL schoolboy story, as both boys are high school students. I found it mildly interesting and the notes in the margins added by the artists were an amusing touch. Knowing the history behind the book gives it some added depth. Otherwise, it's nothing special.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Code Geass: Tales of an Alternate Shogunate (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: I've tried to read a few of the Code Geass manga now and none of them have been very good. This one is especially bad. The story makes no sense and nothing is explained or elaborated on. The art is painfully sketchy and amateurish. The book has no redeeming qualites, as it's only a poorly constructed franchise tie in for people who are already superfans of Code Geass. The only positive thing I can say is at least it's inoffensive, but that doesn't save it from being a complete waste of time. This is bottom of the barrel material here, absolutely forgettable in every way.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Clover (manga by CLAMP) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an absolutely beautiful series that barely makes any sense plotwise. The whole thing has a sort of surreal cracked out feel to it. The story jumps around in the timeline and very little is explained. Despite that, it is still pretty easy to follow, I just wish it had been more detailed and had an ending. Unfortunately, this is one of the manga that CLAMP never finished. Even still, this so far is my favorite of their works. The art is top notch, and they did some very interesting things with panelling that I've not seen before. Dark Horse's presentation is excellent as well. The book is printed on nice white paper and includes many color illustrations. It was definitely worth the purchase price.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Close the Last Door (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I was a bit hesitant to pick this up due to Yugi Yamada's artwork. It's not "pretty" and I hear it's a bit of an aquired taste. Fortunately, this was on sale so I decided to give it a chance. I'm glad I did. The characters and story were so engrossing that the awkward art grew on me. I'm looking forward to volume 2. Years later, volume two finally sees the light of day. I have to say I no longer think Yamada's art is awkward. It's not "pretty" and her characters are more masculine looking than the tradtional bishounen you usually find in these sorts of manga. It's refreshing actually. The series is just as wonderful as I remembered, with well thought out characters and great comedy between them. The story, a romance featuring adult men, is excellent. I have to say of all the Yugi Yamada books I've read, I haven't been disappointed by one. All of her manga are quite good, even the anthologies. However, Close the Last Door is my favorite.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Clear Skies! (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This can be summed up as a sort of family comedy. I liked it. The humor worked for me. The art was a little rough looking but expressive. The well depicted facial expressions added to the laughs. The plot wasn't the most original, but I liked it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cipher (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Cipher started out fairly interesting. Its set in New York where Anise befriends her classmate Siva. Siva has a twin, Cipher, and these two basically share an identity. Anise gets closer to them, slowly learning their situation and along the way they both develop into separate people. I found the whole thing interesting for the first few volumes, but it began to drag after awhile. The character development was nice, but it and the story moved at a snails pace. I really liked the 80's atmosphere. Reading this was kinda like opening a time capsule. The art was also nice without looking too dated. Overall, I thought Cipher showed promise in the early volumes, but since it was dragged out too long, the drama lacked impact and the whole thing went downhill.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cigarette Kisses (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I admit that Nase Yamato's books are hit or miss for me, as I'm not really a fan of her style. However, I quite like this book. It involves a trio of childhood friends, now adults, who work at the same company. The outcome of the love triangle is not as glaringly obvious as those I've often encountered in manga, with the clear "throwaway" character. There was a moment in the middle of the book when I felt that it could go either way. I appreciated this book for not insulting my intellegence, although it does end a bit too neatly for all the melodrama that goes down. Either way, this is the best book by Nase Yamato I've read thus far.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Chocolate Surprise (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Meh. Another lackluster anthology. After enjoying Love Quest and Flower Bride/Groom, I was let down by this one.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Children of the Sea (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Daisuke Igarashi's art in this is amazing and it's well worth reading this for that alone. Unfortunately, the story while interesting, didn't really grab me. There was a lot of mystical mumbo jumbo concerning tribal creation myths and their relation to the sea. Also, Viz has published 35 chapters in four volumes and I am unsure if that is the complete series, as the ending starts getting very surreal and makes very little sense to me. Either way, by the end I had pretty much lost interest. I'm glad I read this, but I'll probably never revisit it, as it isn't ever going to be a favorite of mine.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Chicago (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Chicago is an interesting little sci-fi/action title by the author of the shojo fantasy epic, Basara. I loved it and wish I could have read more. Unfortunately, it ends just as the plot starts to get really interesting. Nonending aside, the characters really made this for me. It's nice to see a female character who's not afraid to kick a little ass.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cheeky Angel (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I thought Cheeky Angel was a really fun romantic comedy. It had a decent plot, was nicely paced and never dragged. I really liked the characters and the humor actually made me laugh. The art wasn't the most polished, but it fit the tone of the series and got the message across. I thoroughly enjoyed this series.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Challengers (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is Hinako Takanaga's debut series. it was interesting seeing her older art style, I quite liked it. By the end of the series though, Tomoe starts looking younger and girlier as per Takanaga's current style. (Bleh.) Challengers is basically a romantic comedy and here the comedy mostly worked. I got a couple of giggles out of it. Takanaga created an interesting and varied cast of characters and they play off each other well. So well in fact that the protagonists both are overshadowed by vastly more interesting side characters, such as Tomoe's homophobic brother Souiichi and his lab assistant Morinaga, Kurokawa's friend Isogai, and Kurokawa's mom. Compared to these, Kurokawa and Tomoe are pretty flat. Fortunately, Takanga wrote a spinoff, the pretty popular "The Tyrant Falls in Love" that focuses on Souiichi and Morinaga. I can't wait to read that one. She really created a couple of memorable characters there. Unfortunately, Challengers by itself is kinda bland. I wasn't that interested in the main story, and I don't share Takanaga's love for genderless young looking blushing boys (Tomoe).

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Ceres: Celestial Legend (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Ceres is one of Watase's best so far. It's also darker and much more violent than her other series, which is probably one of the reasons I liked it so much. It felt a bit more "mature" than others I've read by her. The art was beautiful as well, but I've come to expect that from a Watase manga. My only complaint is that the story sort of dragged in the middle volumes. I also appreciated the ending. The story would have been cheapened if it had ended all roses.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] A Century of Temptation (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a BL one shot by the Madness and Brave 10 mangaka. Honestly, it's not very good. The art is great, but the story and characters are severely under-cooked. It'as about a vampire who is allergic to human blood who falls in love with a human. Another vampire is obsessed with him and is jealous. Honestly, any sort of conflict, such as Sevi's human lifespan, Hornet's weakening powers, and the antagonist are handwaved away at the end, like the mangaka had to wrap it up super fast and didn't know how. So, any potential this thing could have had pretty much goes down the toilet with the ending.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Cat Paradise (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: After enjoying the mangaka's other series, Chikyu Misaki and King of Thorn, I really expected to like this one too. Sadly, I didn't. Cat Paradise makes use of the tired and worn out high school setting, where the student council along with their pet cats possess magic powers they use to fight demons. Another thing I really dislike are animal mascot/sidekick characters. I never find this cute and here the talking cats just about did me in. They were portrayed more like little humans in cat form, so it was like they could have been any animal really, dogs or hamsters would have worked just as well. Maybe I could have gotten past the talking cats if this had not been yet another demon busting high school series with a cackling supervillian at the end. Who knows. In the end, I found the series to be very ho-hum and I did not like it very much.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Castle Mango (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a surprisingly emotional heartfelt romance between a high school boy whose family owns a love hotel and an adult film director who sometimes films there. The premise could have been super seedy but it is quite chaste. The characters were lonely people with tragic backstories and seeing them come together was satisfying. I also liked that the story took place over two volumes, allowing for a bit more depth to the romance and characters. I enjoyed it.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Casino Lily (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Magira aka "Casino Lily" has legendary gambling luck. The catch is that he can only win with other people's money. So, he goes around the world to different casinos in an effort to break his "curse". He eventually is pursued by a casino owner with the ridiculous LOL worthy name of "Monte Carlo". This is kind of a silly book, not in a comedic way, but more in a cheesy way. I do like Nitta's art quite a bit, although she has a habit of making Magira look too androgynous at times. In one scene he comes out in a red suit (no shirt) and pearls. That is just one example, but there were multiple times where I thought he seriously needed a fashion intervention. This is only a one volume series, so the romance is too condensed for it to make much of an impact on me. I found the book entertaining and I did like it, but I vastly prefer Nitta's longer, better developed and more well known "Embracing Love".

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Caramel (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: I liked the two Puku Okayama manga I've read in the past, but this one sort of left me cold. A girlish young man is looking for a cheap room for college and happens across one in which he can stay for free if he handles all of the house duties. The rentee is a man child who can't seem to take care of himself, yet works in a $$ office job. This is BL so they fall in love, but it felt unbalanced and empty. I didn't find humor in the salaryman ordering Iori about. This book was a miss for me.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] A Capable Man (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an anthology by Hinako Takanaga. The stories are all short and shallow. There are plenty of blushing high school boys, which is so not my thing. The best story in the collection was the only one not dealing with high school boys. It featured two cooks in a restaurant, one of which loved to torment the other with his bad food because he had a fetish for the other guy's reactions. Anyway, I'm only lukewarm on Hinako Takanaga's work, so I didn't enjoy this as much as a superfan might. It was only OK for me.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Canon (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I like vampire tales, so I expected to like Canon, and I did (no surprise). Canon is your basic revenge tale. Since this is only 4 volumes, the story moves at a good clip. I appreciated that there was no clear cut "good" and "bad". I believe the world is painted in shades of gray rather than black and white after all. My only slight complaint is the sort of abrupt ending. Because the series is so short, I pretty much expected that. Even so, the author still manages to create some interesting characters and an exciting story in such a short format.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Candy (manga by S. Sugita) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This book contains two stories. In the first, Tohru's cousin (nonrelated) comes to live with him and his brothers, and the second is a romance between a couple of teachers. The first story is the stronger of the two, but ultimately both were pretty mediocre. I enjoyed the book, but only marginally.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Can't Lose You (manhwa) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This here is a high drama style romance series. Plot: Our heroine Yooi shares the same face as rich bitch Lida. Lida hires Yooi to be her body double. Drama ensues. Can't Lose You is drawn in what I've come to see as a generic shojo manhwa style: Big puffy lips, sharp slanting eyebrows, and really androgynous men. In other words, it was nothing special artwise. While I sot of liked Can't Lose You, it's not a memorable manhwa. It's ok for some quick and light entertainment, but don't be expecting any depth from this soap opera.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Camera, Camera, Camera (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. Akira has a bit of a creepy brother complex, and is being pursued by an older photographer guy who's into him. I found it to be lighthearted, funny, and really entertaining. I liked the art too. My only complaint was with a plot point at the end that seemed needless. I recently tried to reread this one and I found it painfully mediocre. Firstly, the characterization in this was extremely shallow. The photographer falls in love with Akira seemingly instantly and without explanation, making it a stretch to believe. Also, the art wasn't that great. The character designs are incredibly simplistic, and the brothers (supposedly not blood related) I had extreme difficulty telling apart. The lack of backgrounds doesn't help things. I'm not sure why I enjoyed this so much the first time around, and I can only conclude that I didn't have much to compare it to, as it'sd one of the first BL I ever read. I've read much better since then.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Calling (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I've read this manga twice now and I must say that it holds up well to a second reading. It's a romance between a salaryman and a porn actor who "meet cute". It's cute and funny and the romance works for me. The art is very good, with both guys being depicted the same way, i.e. no super girly bottom/super manly top. The characterization was fairly good here. I could see why these two guys liked each other. In short, it's a solid read for fans of BL.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Caged Slave (novel) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This book is a guilty pleasure for me. I can objectively state that it's not very good. The plot is a cliche secretary/boss romance cribbed from a Harlequin novel. The prose is stilted and riddled with gramatical errors. The characters are pretty one dimentional. Yet, I like the book. I found it very entertaining. So, I can't really explain myself. This book is crap but I like it anyway.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Café Latte Rhapsody (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Toko Kawai describes the main couple in her afterword as "a girly-guy couple...almost like a yuri couple". Both characters were supposed to be grown men but neither character was in any way believable as such. There was altogether too much blushing, crying and too many childlike expressions for me to take either one seriously. I felt like I was reading about a couple of elementary school kids. She also wrote that her goal was to create a cute, lovey-dovey romance. Well, she succeeded, but I think it went too far. It went beyond cute into saccarine territory and that's just the sort of BL I don't like. One of the characters muses that he felt like he "was in a shoujo manga" and it was that element that didn't work for me. It felt like I was reading light, fluffy no substance shoujo, with two crying, blushing heroines and too much sparkle.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network


Input: [Read all▲▼] Café Kichijouji de (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a plotless gag manga about a group of guys working in a cafe. The humor is of the random slapsticky variety of which I am not a fan. I barely cracked a smile at any of these jokes. The characters were uninteresting as well, being pretty much one note wonders. You have the clean freak, the poor guy, the womanizing prettyboy, the freakishly strong one, and the occult otaku. One wacky personality trait does not characterization make. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed with this manga. On the other hand, DMP did an excellent job on these books. They printed it on nice white paper complete with several color pages and nice dustjackets. I wish they took this much care on their June line.

PrettyKitty20034's Manga [Read all] - Anime News Network