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

Output: I wanted to like this more than I did, as I usually like Makoto Tateno's manga, but this was a dud for me. The plot was nonsensical and felt made up as it went along. Cayote abducts Nozomi so he can access some computer thing and shut is down is the basic gist, but the random elements and reveals just haphazardly dropped in there with no foreshadowing, no set up, and no elaboration make the whole thing feel like a runway train going nowhere. It doesn't help that characters are cardboard as hell, making the "love" story element fall flat on it's face. It felt like the story was too ambitious for the skill of the writer to convey coherently. At least it was only two volumes long so I didn't really waste too much of my time.

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

Output: It was refreshing to read a more realistic romance featuring adults. This one takes place in a work environment (mostly). Both of the lead characters were flawed and human, pretty well drawn IMO. There was no outlandish melodrama, just normal people faliing in love the normal way. I liked it.

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

Output: Even a mediocre Yugi Yamada book is better than a lot of the other crap BL manga out there. This one contained two stories. Both could have been better with more development. I guess that's why short stories so rarely entertain me, they are usually too short to really do anything with. On the plus side, I did like the manga. It was good enough to read while I'm waiting the the rest of "Close the Last Door".

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Spiral of Sand (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: I should have known what to expect from this as it's by the same mangaka as Jazz. Here, it's a trashy rape=love "romance" with a convoluted family revenge plot as a backdrop. I found I wasn't offended by this though, as the characters were so cardboard and the plot so nonsensical that it was difficult to take seriously. This is the third strike for this mangaka, as I've also read and not enjoyed Awakened Forest. Her stuff is so over the top bodice ripper trashy that I can't fathom why it gets licensed. Maybe it's because of suckers like me, who are so desperate for something to read that they'll try anything? Either way, this is the last straw for me. This book is terrible.

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

Output: This is one of Fujiyama's better manga. Here both her characters are normal guys in college. They meet at a mixer and eventually decide to go out. I like how she focuses on the feelings of these characters as they sort of muddle through their initial dealings with each other. It read in a really natural way and I thought it was a well done romance.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Sounds of Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: Having now read all of Luv Luv's books, I can safely say that this one ranks near the bottom in quality. First, the characters: they were dull and I didn't like any of them. They had too much dull sex. Seriously, all of the scenes were the same. It was so formulaic that it was unsexy. I had a major problem with the art. The faces in particular were very awkwardly proportioned and pretty much pulled me right out of the story. As for the story, I didn't like it. The plot was so shallow as to be nonexistant. In short, this book just wasn't very good. Try "Object of Desire" instead. I found that one to be Luv Luv's best.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Sound of My Voice (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This one didn't click with me. I'm not very interested in the inner workings of the manga/voice acting/anime industry, so manga dealing with this subject usually fail to capture my attention. It wasn't bad though, it's just not my thing.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Someday's Dreamers: Spellbound (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a spin off of the original "Someday's Dreamers", featuring new characters. The main character Nami is an ineffective magic user with confidence issues. The series follows her and her friends thorugh their senior year of high school, while they deal with things like romance and their futures. This is much more of a romance series than the original. I thought the romance was very well done too. It was emotional without being overwrought, and the classmates were not neatly paired off in the end. Yamazaki's pretty watercolor-esque art adds to the subtle atmosphere as well. I really liked this story and find it one of the better shounen romance I've encountered; no fanservice, no moe, just solid storytelling.

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

Output: These two volumes were adapted into "Someday's Dreamers" the anime. This plays out almost exactly like the anime, which I've seen first, the difference being the anime elaborated a bit with more plot and character development. I found it to be really cute and I did really enjoy the soft watercolor look to the art.

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

Output: While Solfege was better than a lot of June's one shots, it was still pretty mediocre. I'm pretty bored by classical music, so maybe that's one reason. Another is that I felt it lacked the great characterization shown in other works by Fumi Yoshinaga. This one just fell flat. Huh. I must have been in a bad mood when I read this before, because I've read it again (granted, years later) and thought it was quite good.

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

Output: Amazing story! I cried. This follows a group of college kids as they struggle to find their path in life. The characters are very well written and the story is an emotional one. I loved it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Snow Drop (manhwa) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Snow Drop is a melodramatic Romeo and Juliet style love story. I enjoyed the first few volumes, but it quickly deteriorated into a repetitive mess. It was a constant stream of "We should break up!"..."No we have to stay together!"...blah, blah, blah. I finished this hoping it would get better, but it just kept going downhill.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Sleeping With Money (novel) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is another yaoi light novel published by DMP/June. The premise is in the title. A yakuza guy sleeps with a wealthy businessman in order to get a huge loan, discovers he likes it, they fall in love, the end. It's kind of a typical yaoi plot. Like all of June's novels that I've read, the prose is clunky, although this one didn't have the glaring typos and gramatical errors that I've found in other books. Ignoring that, the story is entertaining, which is all I ask for when I read these light novels. I'd say this is one of the better offerings among June's line up.

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

Output: Long running Shounen Jump manga are definitely not my thing, and I was prepared to drop this one too, but it is compulsively readable. Sakuragi starts the series as a cocky little punk who joins the basketball team in order to impress a girl. He is pretty hopeless at the start, so watching his development over the series was quite entertaining. The pacing is excellent, as something this long could have easily gotten stale but never does. The art is also top notch. Yes, in the end it's a standard sports story about underdogs rising to the top, but it manages to execute those old cliches super well and earns it's place as the classic basketball manga.

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

Output: I have to at least commend this yaoi one shot for trying to have a plot, but unfortunately, it falls very short. The premise is that Oz, an "odd jobs" company was hired to set up some high school boy so that he doesn't inherit a fortune from some rich old man. This is based on a novel, which I have not read. I get the impression that the manga left some things out, namely characterization. The characters were as thin as paper. The plot whips through so quickly that I suspect that has been truncated too. Overall, it's not terrible, but it's not good either.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Sky Over My Spectacles (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is yet another bland yaoi anthology. The title story is the longest and takes up half the book. It's about high school boys *yawn*, one of which who has a glasses fetish. The rest are super short stories that are completely disposable. I don't remember them and I only read them an hour ago. About the only thing that distinguishes this book is that Mio Tennoji's art is a bit more explicit than usually published here. That was pretty much the only thing keeping my attention. Without that, I would've fallen asleep through this boring, forgettable book.

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

Output: I've never heard of this mangaka before. According to the afterword, this book, originally published in 2010, was her very first. I quite liked the art, with it's sharper featured characters and the lack of cutesy blushing and silly sight gags. Unfortunately, the stories themselves were somewhat lacking. The book contained two, both of which felt very rushed. So much so that I couldn't connect at all with what seemed intented to be more emotional stories. Without any fleshing out, The characters seemed "emo" for little reason. Ritsuki for example is a melancholy slacker type, yet we are given almost no reason for his personality beyond being told that he is "wild". In other words, show, don't tell. To sum it up, the stories themselves weren't bad, but the cardboard characters made this book a bit of a bore to read.

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

Output: This one volume story contained a rare well-executed love triangle. Most of the time, they end up bieng tired and predictable, but this time I was actually unsure of the outcome until the very end. That alone raises this title above the vast sea of mediocre boy's love titles.

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

Output: I liked this short romance. It's about a couple of adults who meet at the hospital while taking care of sick relatives. The story took up the whole book, so there was room for some actual storytelling and characterization. It's not anything special, but it's at least competent. I like Shoko Takaku's character art as well. Everyone looks suitably masculine and easily distinguishable from one another.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Shout Out Loud! (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is one of the most well developed romances I've read. The characters are interesting and well written and their relationships progress slowly and naturally. (Meaning the characters don't just decide "I like you-lets go to bed" in a matter of pages.) It gives the manga a sense of realism that's lacking in a lot of yaoi. I appreciated it very much and for that, this one's going on my short list of yaoi favorites.

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

Output: This two volume manga is basically a comedy poking fun at Japan's kogal culture and is like a four panel comic, with a 1-2 page long set-up followed by a punchline at the end. Most of the humor is of the crude variety, and it is pretty funny 90% of the time. I laughed out loud several times. There were a small handful of jokes that I didn't get or were just gross (like the turd one in volume one). The best parts were the jokes featuring recurring characters, like pantyflash girl, or the girl who talked to celebities on her sode can phone. Mostly these books were just very funny with a side of WTF. I enjoyed them.

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

Output: This is a one shot from the creator of Emma. Most of the book centers on a young maid named Shirley, who starts working for an older single woman. I liked the Shirley stories and her character. There's backstory hinted at there that never does get expanded. I would have liked the see more of Ms. Bennett and Shirley, as they were the most interesting characters in the book and had the most potential to make a really good story. The rest are short stories featuring a couple of maids and their employers. These are short and sweet but not particularly memorable. Overall, Shirley is an entertaining and readable Victorian slice-of-life.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Shinobu Kokoro - Hidden Heart (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here is yet another collection of BL short stories. This one centers around a ninja clan in a remote hidden village. I was a little confused by the setiing because at first I assumed that it was a historical piece (due to the ninjas), but the appearance of "enemies" dressed in modern school uniforms clearly disproved that idea. Like most collections, the stories were pretty shallow. The art was nice however. I found the book mildly entertianing, but ultimately pretty forgettable.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Sexy Voice and Robo (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: I didn't like this one as much as I had hoped. The story was just ok, and I wasn't fond of the art style either. The roughness and the thick black lines made it look sort of "blobby". My personal preference is more detail and more intricate lines. For example: I think manga like Blade of the Immortal and Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden are beautiful to look at.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Seven Days: Monday-Thursday (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is volume one of a two volume series. It's not your typical schoolboy romance. Seryou has a complicated relationship with his brother's girlfriend which causes him to go out with a different girl every week. If he doesn't fall for them by the end of the week, he breaks it off. On a whim and not really seriously, Shino asks him out on Monday. Unbeknownst to him, Seryou begins to fall for him. I liked how the relationships here were portrayed seriously and without the treacly blushing and sparkles and unfunny slapstick I usually find in these high school stories. Rihito Takarai's art style is not really to by tastes though. The boys are drawn long and willowy with androgynous faces and overlong floppy hair. I think it's rare to find a schoolboy BL where the boys are drawn in a realistic manner, i.e. not too girly or too old/masculine looking. I think Puku Okayama (Warning!, The Rule of Standing on Tiptoe) is one artist who manages to get this absolutely right though. To get back to the book, I did enjoy the story and I'm looking forward to reading the second half. It's nicer to see a longer BL story with some attempt at character development as well.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Seven Days: Friday-Sunday (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the second volume of Seven Days, in which the series comes to a satisfying if predictable conclusion. It really doesn't break any new ground in schoolboy BL, the story and characters are just better developed. As this is a two volume series instead of a one shot or an anthology story, that's to be expected. I enjoyed it even though schoolboy BL is generally not my cup of tea. The series doesn't venture into sappy saccarine territory and for that it gets a thumbs up from me.

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

Output: The words I'd use to sum up this series: Over the top. Was it great literature? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. But it was very entertaining. This soap opera like drama was like a trainwreck, I just couldn't look away. I did like the characters somewhat as well, pushy Sakuya and the airheaded Aine. I thought they went well together and it's refreshing to read a shoujo where the characters aren't afraid to get physical. Maybe because I'm older, but I tend to roll my eyes at the stories where even holding hands is a major event and worthy of embarassment.

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

Output: Published by 801 media, this is a plotless smut type anthology. The stories and characters themselves aren't memorable in the slightest, the only reason to read this is the smut. Unfortunately, your milage will vary based on how hot you find girly looking pretty boys. I don't like them, so the book mostly left me cold.

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

Output: I found Selfish Love to be another cliche high school romance. I've read a ton of shojo manga of this variety and I'm coming to see that it's a common plot line in yaoi as well. I did get annoyed at the attempt to portray the characters as being in college even though they were clearly wearing high school uniforms *eye roll*. Also, the caveman like Honor Society prez and the helpless lead character (forgot his name already, ha!) call to mind countless shojo romances just like it. Even still, though it doesn't bring anything new to the table this title managed to be entertaining to me, if somewhat forgettable.

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

Output: This is your typical paranormal romance shoujo, set in a fantasy land and featuring demons. There is your typical mishmash of Christian imagery, with one character being depicted as an angel and the repeated appearance of crosses. (This has nothing to do with the story. I bet Higuri just thought it looked cool). Anyway, the plot was mildly entertaining. A pretty girl named Hilda has lost her memory and finds herself caught up in a war between the demons and the humans. I did like how most of the characters were morally ambiguous. There really was no clear "big bad". This is an older series by Higuri, and her art is a little less polished, but still very much in her style as everyone is impossibly pretty and wearing elaborate costumes. Overall, I thought it was decent. i read Higuri's manga mainly for the art and to be entertained. I wasn't expecting a deep thoughful masterpiece, therefore I wasn't disappointed.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Seiho Boys' High School! (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I was initially expecting something like "Here is Greenwood" when I picked up this manga, so I was surprised at how good it was. It is quite humorous, and more of the situation-al variety than silly slapstick like Greenwood. Also, there is quite a bit of drama in this series, since a lot of it focuses on the boys' relationships with girls. I particularly liked reading from the perspectives of boys as it gives it a different flavor from the usual high school set shoujo romance. The characters felt well rounded and three dimensional as well. All in all, I really enjoyed this series and I'd love to read more from the mangaka.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Seduce Me After the Show (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I find est em's work to be very interesting. The stories and art are always very distinctive and unlike any other manga-ka's. This particular volume was fairly standard. I wish she would write a longer series, because this one falls into the trap of most short stories in being way too condensed. Other than that, I liked it, but the short story is definitely not my format of preference.

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

Output: This book is about a couple of guys in a relationship working in the oh so exciting world of pharmicutical sales. The relationship has already been established, so a lot of the focus is on work, fixing other employee's screw ups, dealing with the boss, and training new employees. Truthfully, it is a bit boring. It seems as if this is a story with nothing to tell. The characters, while having good banter together, are a little one note. On the plus side, Akiba's art is clean and attractive. Her notes at the end of the book are highly amusing too. In the end though, this is a book about nothing. It has no plot, no conflict or characterization, therefore it will be forgotten almost immediately after reading it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Secretary's Job? (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: Having read and been underwhelmed by another of Miki Araya's BL manga in the past, I had low expectations for this book. Unfortunately, it was still terrible, although not offensively bad, just "why did I waste my time on this" bad. It consists of two stories about salarymen, and one short story about college kids. Everything was super bare bones, the backgroundless art, the wooden expressions on the characters, the writing/characterization, etc. This si the kind of bland, lifeless fare that you forget moments, no, while you are reading it. After this, I'm not going to bother wasting my time or money on another book by this mangaka.

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

Output: The first of Kikuya's manga I read was also about a magazine editor, like this one. This time the editor is being pursued by an ex he broke it off with but is still in love with. Rounding out the book are a couple of short stories I've already forgotten even though I literally just finished reading. Like her previous work, this book features simplistic "moe-ified" character designs and minimally drawn backgrounds. Based on the two utterly forgettable books I've read by her, I'm going to have to give Kikuya's work a pass in the future.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Secrecy of the Shivering Night (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This BL anthology contains four short stories. They tend toward more emotional romance than fanservice. I found them competent in execution, but far too short for my tastes.

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

Output: I read this a couple of months ago and found it boring and forgettable. It's basically side stories and has no bearing on the main plot from the anime. The art was just ok, nothing special. It's really better to just stick with the anime on this one.

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

Output: There are three stories in this book. The first one is, well, a bit disturbing to put it lightly. After a violent rape, the rapee blithely forgives the rapist because they are just so in looove. Derp. I found it highly unrealistic. Instead of ending happily ever after, the story should have ended with the psychotic one going to jail. The second story was my favorite. This one is about a shy office worker who meets his crush in a gay bar. The characters in this story were not selfish and dispicable people, so I found it easier to read about them. The last story featured your regular garden variety douchebag who thinks too highly of himself. This guy is also one who can't seem to stop sleeping with women even though he's in a relationship with a man. And his partner just takes it, without a word. Again, unrealistic. Most people, regardless of gender, would dumpity dump. Despite my criticisms, the collection is at least entertaining. Entertaining and rant worthy is far better than painfully dull I say. I also really love Madarame's art style. It's beautiful.

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

Output: This is the start of a four volume series. It's mindnumbing stupid, yet entertaining smut is about all I can say. This is the kind of thing you read because you have nothing else, acknowledge that it's crap, yet are still mystifyingly entertained by. The plot is laughable, new student at Seiryo "university" is harrassed by twisted student council prez (since when did they wear uniforms in university?). I did sorta like the art. Although, there is a marked improvement with the last volume. Anyway, I can't recommend this series to anyone but boy's love fans who don't have anything better to read. Like me.

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

Output: This one is actually two stories. I liked it quite a bit. After reading and enjoying a few of Kano Miyamoto's manga, I can safely say I'm a fan. I like her art and writing. Anyone that can write a short story with some depth eventually makes it to my "auto-buy" list.

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

Output: In this story, Ann moves to her mother's hometown after her parents divorce. She quickly makes new friends but learns that time doesn't stand still. This is not your typical shoujo manga. The characters are introduced when they are children, but the story wraps up when they are about 30. Ann grows up throughout the course of the story, both physically and mentally. It deals with relationships in a very realistic manner, this is no hearts and flowers shoujo. I cried like a baby through the end of the main story. For those tired of wimpy heroines and perfect princely heroes, this manga is a breath of fresh air.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Sanctuary (manga by R. Ikegami) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I've had this long out of print series from Viz sitting on my shelf for several years before finally picking it up to read it. I'm glad I waited, as Sanctuary is so refreshing after reading another run of the mill school based shoujo or another moe laden shounen. Stuff like this just doesn't get published here anymore. The story follows two young men who vow to change Japan at any cost. One goes into politics and another joins the Yakuza. This is a serious drama featuring a lot of backroom dealing and political maneuvering. The art is done by Ryoichi Ikegami in his signature photo-realistic style, which fits a story like this perfectly. I just love his art. Faces, expressions, body proportions, all are true to life. Even the time period is captured, as this was drawn in the early nineties and it shows with eighties style hairstyles, fashion, cars, boxy computers and even the huge phones. The ending was a little abrupt, but even so, I enjoyed this story very much.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Samurai 7 (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I'm a really big fan of the Samurai 7 anime, so I was very disappointed after reading this manga. It wasn't very good. For one, the story suffered from being condensed a lot in order to fit into two volumes. The characters were lacking as well, being as three dimensional as cardboard. My biggest problem (besides the lackluseter story and characters) was the art. It just wasn't good. The creator decided to ignore the perfectly good character designs from the show and go with something that looked more "generic anime". Poor Kirara suffered the most. In the anime, she's a strong character with personality. In the manga she's a nonentity. So, due to the awful character designs, the lack of characterization, and the wham-bam-thank-you-maam plot, I couldn't get into this.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Friends to boyfriends stories are common in BL, but this one was a cut above the rest. Samejima and Sasahara are friends who both work in a convenience store and attend the same college. The dynamic changes when Samejima confesses that he likes Sasahara as more than a friend. Their friendship was well depicted, the way they were around each other and how they ragged on each other, making the romantic progression seem natural and believable. The art is of the sketchy variety, but no one looks too feminine, so that's a bonus. Based on this book, I will be searching out more of Koshino's work.

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

Output: I've long been a fan of Moyocco Anno's work, and this book didn't let me down. This book follows an apprentice courtesan named Kiyoha as she's deals with the situation she finds herself stuck in, i.e. essentially being sold into slavery against her will. Anno's art style is so expressive and she writes such interesting and nuanced characters that even a subject as distasteful as this is interesting. I can't help but feel sad for Kiyoha, as she's denied such a basic right as simple freedom. Even just leaving the pleasure district gets her dragged back and beaten. Despite all that, she's very strong, which allows her to survive in that environment without totally going crazy. I found this book highly engrossing, my eyes were glued to the page and I couldn't put it down.

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

Output: I have mixed feeling on this one, because while I liked the characters and the story was nice, I didn't like that it "went there" i.e. the sex scenes with the dog boy. If it had stayed an innocent story about love and devotion between a master and a pet, I would have rated this much higher. But, I was creeped out by the furry sex. To be fair , I do enjoy hard yaoi and I don't have anything against sexual content if it fits the story. I just feel that it could have been left out here.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Rose of the Rhine (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a wallpaper historical BL loosely based on an old medieval German saga. The tone is not serious and the story is basically a collection of the silly adventures of King Deitrich. It is about a deep as a kiddie pool. There isn't much to the "plot" and the characters fare no better. This could've been fun if it were better written.

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


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

Output: This is a two volume series, released here as an omnibus, adapting the 2007 RxJ anime. I thought the anime was "meh" and this manga adaptation is not an improvement. 26 episodes of story are condensed here into only two volumes. As a result, there is no depth to this story or characters whatsoever. Even the art is generic and bland, with very sparse backgrounds and cardboard cutout character designs. Also, the panelling and action parts lacked flow and were difficult to follow. Ultimately, I found it hard to care about this manga as it is the very picture of bland mediocrity.

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


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

Output: This is the story of a young woman who travels to Italy in search of her mother, from whom she is estranged. I thought the handling of the mother/daughter conflict was very interesting and both characters felt like real three dimentional people. I liked the restaurant setting as well. I'm now craving Italian food. Natsume Ono's quirky art style was perfectly suited to this off beat story. In fact, I believe that this is one of her better manga. I really enjoyed it.

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


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

Output: This is porn, since it's pretty explicit. It contains three stories, the title story and two shorter ones. The title story and the story about the dentist were ok. There was no weird gender role stereotyping or noncon. The other story had a pretty violent rape. Ick. Ougi's drawing style is pretty angular and pointy. The book was uneven artwise, with some chapters looking more polished and others having weird anatomy issues. This is explained in the authors notes where she states that some of the chapter were several years old. Anyway, I can objectively say that the book isn't very good, the "plot" is laughable, but I found it entertaining regardless. Leave this one alone if you aren't interested in seeing peen though.

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


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

Output: I enjoyed this sweet little tale of archery and school boy love. The art was rather pretty and I liked the archery angle, it was interesting. Overall, it was a light fluffy sort of romance series. Not the sort of thing that sticks with you, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Right Here, Right Now (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This two volume series can be basically summed up as a boys love time travel romance. It's mildly entertaining for what it is, but don't expect anything substantial. My main problem it is the same for many BL, the extemely rushed characterization. It takes place in the waring states era, but not much time is actual spent building a plot out of that. Too bad, as it could have been an interesting premise, but is instead squandered on yet another cookie cutter BL romance. As it stands, the series is a mildly entertaining diversion, nothing more.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Revolutionary Girl Utena (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: The Utena manga plays out a lot like the Utena anime, but with a lot less repetition and no filler. The manga is a little more straightforward than the anime, having only 5 volumes to tell the story in. But, it doesn't quite have the same sense of surrealism that the anime had. Maybe it's the lack of music, the rituals, or the crazy imagery, who knows. Either way, I felt the manga was missing that sense of mystery that the Utena TV has. While I liked revisiting Utena again, I enjoyed the anime a bit more.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Return to Scandalous Seiryo University (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is book two in the Seiryo University series.

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


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

Output: This is another work by Shoko Hidaka (Not Enough Time). The majority of the book is taken up with the story of two models who fall for each other. This is pretty standard far that didn't break any new ground. I enjoyed it but I doubt I'll remember it in an hour.

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


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

Output: Red River is a historical fantasy involving a teenage girl who is magically transported to ancient Mesopotamia. It reads just like an 80's style bodice ripper, with lots of adventure and a feisty heroine who gets her bodice ripped a lot. Most of the characters were one note wonders, the plotting was painfully transparent, and the main villian's machinations (the Queen and her henchman) took some incredible leaps of logic. I tried not to think too hard about the sometimes ridiculous plot and took this for what it was, a really long romance manga. Too long I think, because it started to drag. On the plus side, I do appreciate the mangaka loosely incorporating history int he series, as those bits were somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, they weren't enough to save this series from only being mildly entertaining.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Red Blinds the Foolish (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: In a sea of similarly styled BL, this one stands out as something different. First, it takes place in Europe and features adult characters. Second, the art is excellent and very detailed. Faces are expressive and backgrounds are present. My only quibble is this; because the stories were so short, I found it hard to connect with any of them. They were all very fast paced and I wish more time had been given to each one in order to appriecate them more. In any case, I was entertained by the sheer "otherness" of this manga and will definitely be trying more by this manga-ka.

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

Output: This time Tateno tackles a vampire story, where the lead is actually a vampire fallen angel with red wings who has both male and female forms. The series was ok. it's two vloumes and most of the first book was taken up with short unrelated stories featuring Micha/Eru (See what they did there with the names?). Anyway, not the worst Makoto Tateno manga I've read but far far from the best

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


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

Output: This is a period piece. The ruler of the land is about to die and the heir is living as a normal man under an assumed name. One of the lord hires a couple of assassins to kill him. Instead, one of them falls for him. The other used to be his childhood retainer. The story is kinda convoluted and rushed. The characters are pretty flat, so it's hard to care about what happens to them. Also, the plot whips through events too fast for them to make any impression. This might have been better if it had been stretched to two books and fleshed out a little. As it is, it's just another mediocre boy's love one-shot.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Recipe for Gertrude (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a very cute shoujo manga for kids. I would have loved it if I were 8 years old, but as a grown adult, it doesn't do anything for me. Thankfully, the series was short. It's not a bad manga, in fact it's one of the better examples of kid's manga I've read. Kusakawa's art is somewhat crude but her characterization makes up for it. The story is simple without being mindnumbingly stupid. Her humor is cute and it works for the story. Little girls could do worse than pick up this one.

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


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

Output: There were two short stories contained in this volume. Neither of them hit the mark for me. I though both guys were douchey and the girl from the second story suffered from doormat syndrome. Neither of the stories were really deveolped either. The whole thing was rather shallow. I actually got more entertainment from the author's section in the back.

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


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

Output: I really wanted to like this series more than I did. I am a fan of Chika Shiomi's work, but I found this one to be one of her weaker ones. The story is largely episodic, with the only overarcing plot line being Rasetsu's search for true love. She must find someone before her 20th birthday, or a demon will possess her soul. Thankfully Rasetsu isn't a weak doormatty whiner, so this wasn't as cheesy as it could have been. Also, I appreciated reading about grownups for once. I don't think I can take much more high school set romance shoujo. I think my problem was that even though the series was entertaining, it wasn't particularly memorable. The characters and their story didn't grab me. I wasn't in a rush to read each volume. So in the end, Rasetsu was "good" but not "great".

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] (La) Quinta Camera - 5 Banme no Heya (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is one of Natsume Ono's earlier works, and it shows. The art is a little more scribbly and the narrative is a little more disjointed. It's a slice-of-life story taking place in Italy about four guys who live together and the empty room they rent out to students. The story is basically, "lets watch all these cool Italian people hang out". Between this and Ristorante Paradiso, I'm beginning to suspect Ono has a bit of an Italy fetish. I was a little annoyed that the American exchang student was a walking stereotype. Of couse he was fat and ate nothing but greasy pizza and french fries in great quanities. That was his sole characteristic. In fact the characterization for everybody was similarly one note. I usually like Natume Ono's style, but this wasn't up to par. It was only mediocre at best.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Quest for the Missing Girl (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Shiga, a mountain man, one day receives word that his dead friend's daughter has gone missing and off to Tokyo he goes in order to search for her. This has all the makings of a good suspense movie, culminating in an intenseand memorable action scene. The man climbs a skyscraper. How badass is that? Taniguchi's art and pacing are perfect in this manga. I am a fan of his art and everything he writes.

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


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

Output: I usually like Rie Takada, but I thought Punch! was just meh. The characterization was flimsy in this series, making it read like a teenage girl's shallow wish fulfillment fantasy. The guys were very pretty but had very little personality. All of their actions pretty much seemed focused on going out with the main character who had her moments of hilarity but was not as fun as other Takada heroines. Some of the "romantic" lines were beyond cheesy as well. I actually liked the two short stories at the end of volume 3 better than the main series. I got a few laughs out of those and the relationships while still somewhat contrived, at least made more sense. My final verdict? Skip it and read Wild Act instead.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Punch Up! (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This a BL manga by Shiuko Kano, one of my fav mangaka. Granted, some of hers are only "meh" for me, but this is not one of them. Punch Up! is a spin off of Play Boy Blues and stars a side character from that series. I like reading about relationships between adults, so this story was especially welcome. At four volumes long, Maki and Kouta's relationship and characterization is given time to develop, making the characters more memorable and the romance feel more real. It did get a little melodramatic with the anmesia storyline, but thankfully that's not dragged out too long. Overall, this is one of Kano's better series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish PBB was brought over here in it's entirety as well, as I'd love to read more than the first volume.

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


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

Output: This is a student/tutor series with boring one dimensional characters. Also, plot? What plot? It was all stupid little non issues interrupting the characters relationship so they could later make up and have lots of boring sex. The art was great and that's about all this series has to recommend it.

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


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

Output: In Prince Charming, a gay student has a crush on his teacher. I had to suspend my disbelief, because those students sure were experienced! Having now finished all three volumes of the series, I found myself enjoying it. The longer length allowed more time for developing the relationships than in a typical one-shot or anthology, which I appreciated. The high school characters still didn't ring true, but the story was entertainig despite that.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I have mixed feelings about this manga. The plot was interesting and the art was lovely. However, both main characters were awful people. I was disgusted by their plan to marry and deceive their future spouses about their homosexuality. I realize that this must happen all the time, but I would rather not read about it. It hard to get into a story if I can't stand any of the characters.

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


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

Output: I found Pretty Poison to be pretty "meh" and forgettable. Our main character is being played by her boyfriend, who pawns her off on one of his friends when he gets tired of her. Both guys were douches. The lead character was a lame doormat. There was a lot of sex in this manga, which made it readable, but otherwise: pass.

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


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

Output: Pretear was ok. It was a little light on plot and characterization, the art was mediocre, and the ending was kinda bland. It just managed to keep my attention at four volumes long. I am curious to see if the anime is any better. P.S. And now that I've seen it, it is.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) President's Time (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is supposed to be a light comedy about a company president who must become "evil" in order to fulfill his dead father's request and keep his inheritance. So, he goes about this by crossing on a red light and defacing posters, as he's hopelessly inept. The problem here is I didn't laugh. It's just too dumb. The "romance" took place with one of his subordinates who took pity on him I guess? It's of the meet, sex, instantly in love variety and I couldn't give a damn as it was just so hollow. The art in this book was terrible as well, full of badly drawn anatomy and disproportionate faces. The characters were all of the same face with different hairstyles, making it sometimes hard to tell them apart. In the end this book, while not actively terrible, just wasn't very good.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] President Momoi Kun (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I usually don't find gag manga to be my thing, but this one was so utterly ridiculous that I couldn't help but smile. Momoi is the president of a company and he has no idea what it does. He's only there to find a hot boyfriend in a suit, preferably with glasses. The fourth wall was constantly being broken and the entire book was firmly tongue in cheek. There was even a out of the blue vampire subplot. The book was completely cracked out and I totally enjoyed it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Poison Cherry Drive (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: The first time I read this, my reaction was WTF! I had just finshed reading Motoni Modoru's "Dog Style" which I thought was excellent, but this is completely different. It is a pure gag comedy manga. Taken as it is, it's actually pretty funny. I found myself laughing out loud several times and the Doraemon parody in chapter two was priceless. Modoru's brand of humor is completely my style. I liked this book quite a bit and I'd like to read more by Modoru as I've liked everything I've seen so far.

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


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

Output: This is a manga that I'm glad I've read once, but ultimately didn't do much for me. I liked elements of it, such as the gorgeous art and the sci-fi elements, but the robots vs humanity themes as presented in this series really weren't that interesting to me. It probably doesn't help that I've never read a single page of Tezuka's original Astro Boy, or that I'm not the biggest Tezuka fan to begin with. Honestly, I can't help but compare this series to Monster, which I read not too long ago, and find it lacking. Despite my gripes, I didn't hate Pluto, I liked it actually. I was just hoping for more I guess.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Please Save My Earth (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Despite a sort of nonsensical reincarnation/revenge plot, I quite liked the manga. It was like a compulsion, I couldn't stop reading. It was well paced, never slow or dull. The characters, Rin/Shion and Mokuren especially, were interesting. The moon flashback segments were the most compelling part of the story to me. That part of the plot was the most clear and well told in my opinion, once it switched to the present day things got a bit more sloppy. I thought the present day characters were not developed quite as well as their moon base counterparts too. Also, the art in some of the earlier volumes is very dated and pretty much screams "80's". I saw a marked improvement in later volumes though. Overall, while PSME is not without it's flaws, it was a positive reading experience for me.

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

Output: I saw the anime first and really enjoyed it so I was fairly sure I'd love the manga as well. I was right. Great art and interesting, likeable characters make Planetes so much fun to read. It also helps that I really enjoy space stories. I much prefered the manga ending as well.

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

Output: I was enjoying Planet Ladder until I got to the end. The ending was not so hot. It looked like the author didn't quite know how to tie it all up and started throwing in some random explanations and eventually just ended it on a time skip where everone is all happy some years later. Obviously, we can assume that the worlds were saved, but how that conclusion came to be was never illustrated. I think the author needed another volume in order to wrap this up properly. As for the rest, the heroine was your typical useless, weak variety. Fortunately, the rest of the characters like Bambi, Kagami, and Seeu were interesting enough to carry the story. The art was fairly nice, characterized by heavy use of screentones. I didn't find it distracting though. Overall, I liked it, I just wish more thought could have been put into the ending.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] A Place in the Sun (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is one of the shallowest BL anthologies I've ever read. If it can even be called BL, because the romance aspect is barely present. Without it, the stories are painfully boring, and lack depth. I don't care about these characters since I only get a chapter to read about them before we're on to the next story. The stories themselves are basically plotless and in some cases just inane. In the dumbest one, a scatterbrained guy keeps missing the trash pickup and strikes up a friendship with the trash man. The trashman gets injured on some chopsticks in the garbage and the ditzy fellow goes over to his house to apologize. For some reason, they kiss and flash forwrd to the next day, where the dummy is late again for the trash pickup. The end. If brain cells died while reading my little summary, imagine how I felt reading the actual story. the whole anthology was like that. The art was lackluster as well, really rough and sketchy, with sloppily drawn backgrounds. It looked like a really amateurish work. So, I don't recommend this one.

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

Output: This is a short story anthology by Yugi Yamada. After reading a number of Yamada's manga, I am a fan. Her short stories are of the interesting non-forgettable variety. The title story in particular was well done, featuring a group of friends, two of which are in that awkward stage of "almost dating". The dialog and humor are spot on and the art is excellent, with well drawn expressions and not a boy whio looks like a girl in sight. My only complaint is the same with all anthologies, I wish the stories were longer and had more depth.

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

Output: I'm feeling a little let down by Penquin Revolution. While I liked it better than the other series I read by the same mangaka, Land of the Blindfolded, it failed to tie up some major loose ends. Like her other series, this one has very little conflict or drama and is a more low key shoujo. That's fine and good, but I usually find such series to be dead boring. Penquin managed to just barely escape that fate by having a likeable and interesting heroine and creating some possible romantic entanglements. However, the romance that kept the series interesting is not resolved by the series' end. I felt ripped off. So, while I somewhat enjoyed this reading experience, it's not reread worthy.

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

Output: If I had to sum up this three volumes series in just a couple of phrases, I'd say it's about cultural misunderstandings and shock value. There is a lot of over the top violence and sexual content here, but it is so crazy it crosses the line into absurd. It is absolutely not meant to be taken seriously. The core message, that you can't form assumptions about a country based on it's entertainment, is a good one and I laughed several times throughout the story. Morimoto Rockstar's immitations of gang culture cribbed from movies and rap videos was absolutely hilarious and I'm sure Milton's fake Japanese learned from an anime was the same to Japanese readers. Despite the cultural divide, people are essential the same everywhere, as illustrated by Milton and Reiko's unlikely friendship. Both characters felt constrained in a society that doesn't understand them. I was happy to see some character growth for both, when eventually they stopped trying so hard and just did what they liked. I would've liked to see the same for Morimoto, but he remains oblivious until the end. the ending left it open for a sequel, as we see both the transformed Reiko and an injured Morimoto in an airport waiting room holding tickets to Chicago. Now that's a sequel I'd love to see. It'll probably never happen, as I doubt this series was popular in Japan. Peepo Choo wasn't perfect, and certainly had some problems, but I totally loved it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Peach Girl: Change of Heart (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the second half of Peach Girl (Vols 9 through 18). I tore through this last half of the story. I enjoyed that Momo's choice never seemed to be a forgone conclusion. I was never really sure which boy she would end up with until the very last volume. I dislike when the love triangle plot device is used predictably. Oftentimes, one character always seems to be a "throwaway character". That isn't the case here though, and is another example of why this story succeeds so well.

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

Output: I went into this expecting another generic high school drama. It turned out that I really enjoyed reading this. It took a few volumes for the characters to really grow on me, but once they did, I was hooked. What really made this series stand out for me though, was a really spectacular villian. Sae is what kept this story from becoming forgettable. She was so rotten, yet not a one-dimentional "super villian" type. I think what I liked best about this is that the characters' personalities were believable.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Peace Maker (manga by N. Chrono) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a story about a pair of brothers, one who's a new member of the Shinsengumi, and his younger brother who is eager to join as a way to take revenge for his murdered parents. At first it starts a bit rocky, as Tetsunosuke (the younger brother) is a bit of a brat and flies off the handle without much thought as to the consequences of his actions. However, as he spends more time living and training with the Shinsengumi, he matures greatly. The series appears to be based on a historical event and many historical figures are present. Tetsunosuke and his brother may be made up characters, but a large amount of the cast and the events were real. I often enjoy historical fiction, so no surprise that I enjoyed this quite a bit. I really like Nanae Chrono's art as well. It's very sharp and contrasty, with attractive and unique character designs. A lot of these characters have similar hair and uniforms, but I have no trouble telling them apart. The fifth volume is the end of this particular story arc. The sequel, Peacemaker Kurogane, takes place three months after the conclusion of Peacemaker. I'm looking forward to reading more.

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

Output: This is a very dark yaoi manga about vampires in which they do what vampires are meant to do, kill people. It's somewhat unusual among June's other super fluffy/sweet BL releases. I wasn't expecting it and it was a pleasant surprise. The romance was dark, the art was excellent and I really enjoyed it.

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

Output: There isn't much plot here, the story is about a love triangle between two students and a math teacher, told in the driest way I've ever read. The characters are pretty much blank slates and the mangaka's art style with the dead lifeless eyes doesn't help. I honestly could not connect to anything in this book, as it was such a dead bore.

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

Output: For a longer series, I expected to see a little more depth. Unfortunately, I didn't find it. The characterization was a bit shallow, and the plot a simple student/teacher romance. The art was somewhat odd as well, with the teacher looking the same age as the students. I was mildly entertained by Passion, but that's all.

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

Output: Parasyte is a page turner that I just couldn't put down. Izumi is infected with a strange lifeform that takes up residence in his arm. He is lucky, as the goal of these creatures is to take over the brain, essentually killing the human and using it's body to perform the life functions. It is not explained where they come from as they float down from the sky like seeds, but they feed on humans. Izumi manages to form a reluctant partnership with his. It was interesting to note the character development in this series as human and parasite eventually become sort of friends and ther relationship is more than just that of parasite and host. The story is pretty faced paced as well. I read the whole series in an afternoon because I just had to find out what happened next. The ending was great, a real resolution with very few loose ends. In short, I love this series and it has a permanent place on my shelf.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Paradise on the Hill (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I must admit that I'm not really a fan of Momoko Tenzen's work, but of all that I have read, this book is the most passable. It takes place at an all girls school and features a romance between two teachers. This is yet another story where the characters angst over their feelings for almost the whole book and confess at the end. This book would've been a lot shorter if they had just communicated. I find misunderstandings based on lack of communication frustrating instead of entertaining. Despite that, there's just something about this one that keeps it off the forgettable crap pile. I found myself enjoying the story and characters even though I've not enjoyed any of Tenzen's other manga. Maybe because it was a story about adults forming an adult relationship contrasted with the setting being full of schoolgirls and their schoolgirl crushes. So much manga is about teens that a story about adults is refreshing. I liked it.

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

Output: I first watched and absolutely loved the anime before picking up Paradise Kiss, the manga. There were no real discernable difference between the two. It pretty much played out exactly the same with just a little more elaboration on the ending in the manga. I think I enjoyed this a little bit more as an anime though. The colors, music, and voices really lend themselves to this very well written story.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Palette of 12 Secret Colors (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I was pretty bored with Kusakawa's other series, The Recipe for Gertrude, but Palette of 12 Secret Colors ended up being pretty good. The mascot characters, the birds, were pretty inoffensive and while I didn't really find them cute, their presence wasn't irritating like the puppets in Gertrude. I thought the premise of the color magicians was imaginative. The series itself was mostly plotless, with the chapters mostly consisting of episodic adventures. The only continuing plot thead was Cello's goal of graduating and her romance with Dr. Guell, of which both are neatly tied up in the last volume. it's rare that I find younger shoujo this entertaining, so I was pleasantly surprised by this series. I enjoyed it.

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

Output: This was a very good short (six volumes) about past lives and reincarnation. I was happy to read about a shojo heroine who was smart and funny instead of a dumb doormat for once. The art was serviceable, nothing special. It was the characterization that made this story one of the more enjoyable shojo love stories I've read recently.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Ouran High School Host Club (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Ouran is hilarious! I was entertained from the start by these wacky characters and their antics. The art is clear and lovely too. I've never been confused with what's going on or who is who. I've caught up with the U.S. releases and eagerly await each new installment.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Our Kingdom - Arabian Nights (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a side story to Our Kingdom. I slightly enjoyed this one more, because it is only one volume. The main story drags on way too long for 6 volumes, but this one is told and wraps up in one. The same issues with her shota-esque art still apply here, which is to say: I don't like it. The plot is your typical desert setting with some Arabian prince, which is a major cliche, as Harlequin romance novels have been milking this one since time began. It's not any more interesting with BL trappings. So, while I can't really say I enjoyed this book, I didn't hate it either. =/

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

Output: I was disappointed in this. I seem to remember enjoying Naduki Koujima's work in the past, but I think as I've become more familiar with the genre, I can honestly say hers is not good. For one, her art is not to my tastes at all. She draws young looking characters which almost border on shota-ish. They always have these huge shiny eyes which kinda give them the look of a small woodland creature. When she draws older characters this is not as apparent, but unfortunately she tends to stick to the standard, cliche school boys. And the plot, it was your typical schoolboy story. It was dull and repetitive the characterization was pretty one note. Akira seemed to get kidnapped every volume, Rei saves him every volume. Ho Hum. Why did this drag on for 6 volumes? Why did I read all of it? (Ok, I admit to being a completeist.)

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

Output: This two volume series is romance of a more sappy variety, something that on the whole, is not my favorite thing. The conflict in this story is a very real one: finding out whats more important, the one you love or your dreams. However, I felt like I was going to see one of the "You're Shmoopy. No, you're Shmoopy!" a la Seinfeld scenes any moment. It was just too lovey dovey. I was entertained by Our Everlasting, but it just wasn't my thing. I prefer more conflict and tension. I think it makes for a better story.

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

Output: I enjoyed this very much. It's short at only two volumes, but the story never feels rushed or crammed together. After having read this, I really want to check out the anime.

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

Output: I started out really liking this manga. The main character Yaya is a shy and quiet girl who has another opposite personality called Nana. The brash and brave Nana looks after Yaya because she's too timid to stand up for herself and others. This got old after awhile. The jokes while funny at first, also became repetitive. Yaya was just so useless, the typical shoujo heroine, that I couldn't really empathise with her. Nana was also similarly a one-note character. I did get some enjoyment out of this manga, but it's not one of my favorites.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Othello (manga by Toui Hasumi) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: Yawn. Another boring yaoi anthology. With the shallow plot, the shallow characters, and the uninspiring art, it had nothing new to offer.

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

Output: I went on a Hyouta Fujiyama binge today, starting with "Ordinary Crush" as it's the first of her interconnected stories. Fujiyama's style is very mainstream I guess one could say. She writes your everyday schoolboy/salaryman romance, without any objectionable content that I could see; no weird fetishy stuff, no noncon, not too explicit, and her art is pretty without making the guys look feminine. Despite the very vanilla aspect of her stories, they are far from boring, as the characters are well developed and she takes time to explore the emotional aspect of a new romance. I thought it was very well done and I really enjoyed "Ordinary Crush" and the sequels: "Freefall Romance" and "Sunflower".

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Only the Ring Finger Knows (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a very chaste school boy romance. I found it to be light entertainment but not the sort of thing that sticks with you for very long.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Only Serious About You (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I wasn't expecting much from this two volume series by Kai Asou (Cool/Uncool), having been underwhelmed by her previous release, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about a single dad who works in a restaurant and befriends a regular customer who is gay. The relationship is allowed to develop naturally, and both characters are given enough fleshing out that their behavior and choices make sense and are not just convenient for the "plot". Asou's art is just a shade more competent than average, as the characters were easily distinguishable and enough background was drawn that I didn't have trouble establishing a setting. All in all, this series was unexpectedly good.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] One thousand and one nights (manhwa) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This manhwa is the boy's love version of 1001 Nights. In this story, a man disguises himself as a woman to take the place of his sister who is to be brought to the kings harem. Upon discovery, he is thrown in prison. In order to keep his head, he tells stories. Most of these are quite good and blend seamlessly with the main story, except for one in volume 7, which is set in modern times. It felt a bit jarring to be hearing a modern story from an ancient storyteller who had been telling even older stories up to that point. Other than that, the series is fast paced and doesn't get stale and I was satisfied with the ending.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] One Night Lesson (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a short story collection. The longest story is about a couple of schoolboys. Characters are of the cardboard variety. Art is super generic with minimal backgrounds and samey faces with changing hairstyles. The "plot" is also of the paint by numbers variety. In fact, this is the second time I've read this dreck and I'm already forgetting it again. So, on the discard pile it goes.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) One I Love (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: This was a very thin little volume of shorts by CLAMP. Of course the art is lovely, however, it could not save this manga from being a waste of time. The short stories were all very very short and as a result, very very shallow. There was nothing there to care about really, the stories were all so forgettable. I really wouldn't bother with this.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] On Bended Knee (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here we have yet another BL anthology filled with forgettable cookie cutter stories. There are five stories crammed in here, all well worn tropes. We have: yakuza X bodyguard, two doctors, student X teacher, model X manager, and chef X waiter. In each story, the couple wants to get together, there's some stupid misunderstanding, they confess, have sex, the end. I'm so sick of reading this generic crap and I wonder why companies keep licensing it. Surely they realize BL readers have standards too right? It's not that I hate antholgies, it's that so many are sub-par. The good ones are few and far between. This book is so not one of the good ones.

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

Output: This is a short series about Greek gods toying with mortals which had the promise to be interesting but actually is dead boring as it doesn't really go anywhere. The art is absolutely beautiful though.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Oku-san's Daily Fantasies (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I found this book to be very funny. Oku-san has a crush on his delivery guy, so he's always ordering crap off the internet for an excuse to see him. Some of the scenarios he comes up with in his head are hilarious. The art is very good also, containing more detail than I typically see in a BL book, where not just the characters, but objects and backgrounds are given equal attention. The ending is very good too, and the story plays out not like one would expect, which is a nice surprise. This book is currently only available digitally from SuBLime, Viz's BL imprint. It's a good book and I would buy it again in a heartbeat if it ever saw print.

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

Output: This manga, a romantic comedy, is a complete 180 from Samura's well known title "Blade of the Immortal". It's interesting to see his amazing art in a more mundane setting, this time depicting a bunch of college kids. I quite liked the title story, which takes up most of the book. The second story which stars a female mangaka who falls on hard times is absurdly amusing, but not as strong. Overall, the book is entertaining and the stories well written and i enjoyed it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Object of My Affection (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This BL manga contains three short stories centered around a college basketball team. The basketball is only window dressing however, just an excuse for these guys to spend a lot of time together. The romance is of the low key sort, no over the top drama. The stories themselves were a bit too shallow for my taste. Characterization was flimsy as well. Overall, the book was just another mediocre BL.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Object of Desire (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an anthology of short erotic romance stories. Most are mildly entertaining. The standout is the two parter about the two classmates. It's an "opposites attract" kind of story. The characters were memorable and had good chemistry together. The title story is fairly good as well, about a girl who is tired of guys pretending to be interested in her just so they can sleep with her. The only story that really hit a nerve was the second story. The POV was a douchebag cheater who does nothing but complain about his chatty girlfriend. At the end he realizes that he does love her, but he seems more worried that she'll find out about his latest fling more than anything. In a romance anthology, this story does not work. I could not suspend my disbelief enough to think that this couple would ever be happy together. She, with her head in the sand about his true nature, and he with his selfishness and lack of caring or respect for his chosen partner. I mean if you don't like her, just dump and find someone who doesn't make you complain to all of your friends. So yeah, I hated that second story. If I ignore that one though, the rest of the book was fairly good.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Not Simple (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a tragic story about a young man with a hard life who dies in an unlucky way. It almost feels emotionally manipulative as Ian catches no breaks whatsoever, it's a downer from beginning to end. The first time I read this a couple of years ago I cried, but I'm not feeling it much on the reread. I imagine that this sort of story loses its impact if you know whats coming. As far as far as Natsume Ono works go, this is one of her better ones in my opinion. I far prefer it over her short story collections.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Not Enough Time (manga) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a short story collection by Shoko Hidaka. This might have even been her first manga.the stories feature wishy-washy sort of characters who have trouble admitting to their feelings. There are glimmers of promise here and there but overall it's pretty meh and forgettable.

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

Output: I'm trying to decide if I rated this so highly due to my love for Blame! or not. I was highly entertained by it and loved revisiting the Blame! world. The premise was very interesting. However, at one volume, Noise is painfully short and I would have loved to see it expanded into it's own series.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] No Touching At All (manga) [Rating▲▼] Very good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Here's a rarity: an understated and believable romance between adults who actually look like adults ( +1 for Yoneda's art style). In this, Shima has just started a new job and develops a crush on his boss. The story itself is predictable, and it sometimes veers towards too melodramtic, but it plays out in a most uncliche way with a more realistic approach to a relationship between two men. I apreciate a story that doesn't rely on tropes as plot and characterization. This book was like a breath of fresh air.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] No One Loves Me (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Yugi Yamada has become one of my favorite boys love mangaka. All of her books are good, and this one is no exception. She usually bases her stories around working adults, which is super refreshing among a sea of school set romances. The emotions expressed in the book felt genuine and not overblown and melodramatic. All in all, it a well written romance with adult characters, my favorite kind.

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

Output: This is the second book I've read by Kou Yoneda and it cements her in my opinion as a quality mangaka. There are three stories here. The first is about a drug runner and the one I most wanted to see expanded as I really felt there was more to tell. The second was a typical schoolboy crush story, but it was a very well written example. The last was about a pair of guys who worked at a car dealership. This was a four part story and I felt the relationship here was particularly well done and natural feeling. What I like about the stories in this is that none of the characters or feelings expressed within feel contrived at all. It's some of the best written BL I've encountered.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Night of the Beasts (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This was a fun little action/paranormal shoujo featuring a little demon battling, a little romance, and a family curse. It's short at only 6 volumes long, but the story wraps up nicely. Because it's so short, there isn't a whole lot of detail to the characters and the plot is very simple, but for all that, it's still enjoyable. I really like Shiomi's art. She doesn't draw "flowers and sparkles" style shoujo. Backgrounds are present and characters are drawn in a more mature style with somewhat normal sized eyes. I like that. It suits her work as well, which is usually more action based. After reading this and Canon, which I also liked, I'm definitely going to pick up her other work published in English.

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

Output: At first glance, this appears to be one of those run of the mill school boy romances. I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did. Chichiro's childhood friend Keigo moves in with him to attend high school while his parents work overseas. Keigo confesses feelings for Chichiro, who doesn't know how to handle it. For one, he likes girls, and it turns out, the girl he likes also likes girls. This causes him to be more accepting of Keigo's feelings, even if he can't return them (yet). I liked natural way in which the characters and their feelings were portrayed. Usually manga of this type fall into the cutesy fanservicey realm. This one went for a more realistic take on first love. I quite liked it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Nephilim (manga by A. Hanamaki) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This manga reminds me a lot of old school romance novels. You know, the ones with the shirtless guy on the cover holding a chick whose dress is falling off. The hero and heroine in Nephilim embody those stereotypes to a tee. Abel is beautiful and fiesty, and also always in need of rescue. Honestly, this story was just good campy fun. The mangaka put it on hiatus after two volumes, but I'd read it if it ever continued. It's certainly not fine literature, but it's at least entertaining.

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

Output: This was just an OK manga. It's basically a lighthearted (mostly) romance between a vampire and a vampire hunter. The vampire aspect bumped it up a notch, but the shallow plot and the flimsy characterization brought it back down. It was a mildly entertaining way to spend an hour, but it wasn't particularly memorable.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Neck and Neck (manhwa) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: Neck and Neck is another run of the mill high school set romantic comedy. I thought it was cute and it got a couple of chuckles from me, but overall it was pretty mediocre. The plot was pretty predictable. It goes like this: Our heroine Dabin convinces her crime boss dad to let her transfer schools in order to closer to her crush, Eugene. On her first day, she has a run in with the son of her dad's rival. See where this is going? If you guessed the standard love triangle with the predicatable outcome, you were right. Despite it's paint by numbers plot, it was mildly entertaining. The characters were fun and the humor scored more hits than misses.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] My Paranoid Next Door Neighbor (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is another "schoolboys in love" yaoi. A dime a dozen, I know. The plot is pretty straightforward. Yukito's friend Hokuto is rooming at his house in order to attend highchool. After they figure out that they're gay, they get to it. The End. I was entertained, but this title isn't particularly memorable.

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

Output: Yet again, another lackluster anthology. The only story of note is the title story, a fantasy yarn about an ordinary high school boy receiving a magical crest proclaiming him King and the girlish looking sorcerer who was searching for him. I really like Lily Hoshino's distinctive clean lined character designs. but I wish her uke characters didn't look like young girls. I pretty much pulls me completely out of the story. I wish she'd either stick to straight shoujo or just make both of her leads look masculine.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] My Girlfriend's a Geek (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: In this manga based on a novel, a college student starts dating his girlfriend and finds out she's a secret otaku. The story is told from Taiga's perspective as an outsider who is introduced to the culture. He knows nothing, so even the most basic of things is explained to him, such as the meaning of the acronym BL. I found reading this a little tedious at time because of that, since so much of the this is known to me, I didn't find it that funny. Granted, I did get a giggle or two out of it, but much of the humor is centered around Taiga as the straight man and his girlfriend as the weirdo. The characters themselves seemed a little one dimentional as well. By volume five, the series had completely played out it schtick. I was mildly entertaind but that's it.

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

Output: This is an anthology by Rize Shinba (Mister Mistress, My Girlfriend is a Geek). The stories were nothing special, the only thing somewhat memorable is the title story about the stalker kid who steals underwear. In fact almost all of these stories had a mild stalking element. My least favorite was the last story, a silly "Romeo and Juliet" comedy about two rich kids form rival political families trying to hide their relationship. The humor in that one left me cold. All in all, I found the book only mildly entertaining. My favorite by Shinba is still Mister Mistress.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] MW (manga) [Comment▲▼]

Output: Let me get this out of the way first: Osamu Tezuka's art is amazing. That said, I don't really for his work but I can appreciate it and the influence it has on modern manga. For one, Tezuka has a problem with writing realistic women. His women are all silly, weak creatures seemingly incapable of rational thought. Also, they are always getting raped. Every Tezuka book i've read thus far has female characters getting raped. I am aware that the attitude towards women in his time were less than kind, but I can't take the work seriously in 2010 because of them. Stuff like that relegates the book to being more like a curiousity of it's time than something that has relevance today. So, in the end, I appreciated MW, I found it entertaining, I admired the art and panel work, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. *Runs and ducks rotten tomatoes* for not worshipping the "god of manga".

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

Output: I've seen the anime first, so the stories through volume 5 were already familiar to me. Even still this manga is excellent. Mushi are otherworldly-like beings that inhabit the world along with everyday life. Ginko is a "mushishi" which is kinda like a traveling medicine man and he travels the land encountering mushi related problems. The stories are episodic for the most part, although there are a few that flesh out Ginko's past. The art is amazing, with its depiction of nature and the countryside and the strange bug-like mushi. The setting is a sort of rural Japan that kinda looks likes something out of the past, yet Ginko is wearing modern clothes. The whole thing has a sort of magical feel that I can't quite describe. I loved it.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Mr. Tiger and Mr. Wolf (manga) [Rating▲▼] Not really good [Comment▲▼]

Output: I'm generally not really a fan of "furry" stories. Instead of humans with animal parts, this one is about animals that have human shape. The characters are very simple in the way of animals and are portrayed in their habitat living in caves and hunting buffalo (guys with horns roaming the fields). The book clearly doesn't take itself seriously. However, I was a little bored. The characters are one dimentional, the art is weak looking, and there is no real plot. The draw here must be the furries, of which I am not one, so this book didn't do anything for me.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Mr. Mini Mart (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: Endo is a shut in who quit school because he was bullied for being gay. In order to get out of the house, he takes a job in his family's convenience store, where he falls in love with his coworker. Unlike his first crush this one has a happy ending. i really liked this story, as the romance was heartfelt and believable. It's a positive story, as Endo eventually comes to terms with his feelings and that there is nothing wrong with him. I only wish that the story were not so short. It felt a bit condensed and I felt there was more room for growth/elaboration.

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Input: [Read all▲▼] Mr. Flower Groom (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the seguel to Mr. Flower Bride. While I think it sometimes comes across awkwardly in a yaoi story, I really love Hoshino's art. It's really delicate and feminine looking, which is a problem when depicting men, but would look great in a standard shojo. (Has Hoshino written any of those? I'd love to read a non-yaoi by her.) It's a really distinctive style and I really like it. I get bored by the "sameness" of art in certain genres sometimes, so it's refressing to find somethig that breaks the mold a bit.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Mr. Flower Bride (manga) [Rating▲▼] Decent [Comment▲▼]

Output: I found this and it's sequel, Mr. Flower Groom, to be fun little romance stories. To be fair, I liked Groom a touch better because I felt the relationship was better developed. I regard these more like a two volume series than two stand alone stories. The first book spent time setting up the whys and hows of situation, while the second book spent more time on the romance. Even so, I quite liked both.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Mr. Convenience (manga by Nase Yamato) [Rating▲▼] So-so [Comment▲▼]

Output: I know Nase Yamato is a popular BL mangaka, but I'm not a fan. Her art is not to my tastes at all. She draws very feminine to the point that her uke characters are virtually indistinquishable from any other shoujo heroine. When one is supposed to be a salaryman with the face and body of a 14 year old girl, my suspension of disbelief is broken. On the other hand, I do see why she has a following. Her art is clean and faces and bodies (even the super girly ones) are well proportioned. Disregarding the art, this book was just ok. It contains two stories about handy men. Neither manage to break the mold and both are pretty forgettable. I've read a few Nase Yamato books now and I've not been impressed by the writing on a single one.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Moonlit Promises (manga) [Rating▲▼] Bad [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is an anthology containing three stories. The first story, about the lab created animal boy "pets" sold to old pedoes, was creepy as hell. I'm not easily offended by yaoi premises, but this one actively disgusted me. The second story was a tame affair in comparison, about two orphan boys living together. The last story was a genie in the bottle affair (no pun intended). All the stories were super vague as to setting, and the lack of drawn backgrounds weren't helping. If it weren't for that first story, I'd say that this is just another mediocre, forgettable BL anthology, but the inclusion of furry boy prostitution puts it into actively avoid territory.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] (The) Moon and the Sandals (manga) [Rating▲▼] Good [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is a slice-of-lifeish style romance following two couples. What's interesting about it is that it keeps going even after the couples get together (where most romance manga seems to end), and shows their relationships develop in a realistic way, problems and all. No over the top drama here. Fumi Yoshinaga's art is growing on me. I'm still slightly put off by the way she draws chibis though. There's something alienlike about them. I enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading more of Yoshinaga's work.

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


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

Output: This sword and sorcery style fantasy was a lot of fun. The plot is fast paced and is liberally sprinkled with humor throughout. This is a manga that doesn't take itself too seriously. The characters are fun, and while characterization is not really present, they aren't shallow archetypes either. The art is quite nice. The monsters and creatures as well as the characters and world are very well drawn and detailed. The small amount of fanservice present wasn't offputting, possibly because Kasche was a capable heroine and didn't exist as wholly as an object of titillation whose clothes inexplicably shred at the lightest touch. There was always an explanation for the nakedness in the story and I appreciated that small concession to taste. In short this manga was a good read. I enjoyed it.

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


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

Output: This is something very different from the usual manga fare, a fast paced action thriller. I couldn't put it down and blew through the whole thing in a couple of days. It's very densely plotted, with a large and varied cast of characters. I've never read another manga like it. Truely a masterpiece.

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


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

Output: The first volume of "Model" was very promising. The story set up was interesting, and I liked the art and character designs. I thought the androgynous looking male characters sort of fit the whole gothic, vampirey vibe the story was going for. Unfortunately, I found myself losing interest as the series wore on, waiting for something to happen. I'm glad it was only 7 volumes. I think this story could've been concluded in 4 or 5.

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


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

Output: This one is silly and humorous. There's a tenticle monster and "little Fujimaru" talks! I got a few laughs out of it. The art is nice also. It was pretty open ended so I assume there will eventually be more than two volumes (I hope).

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


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

Output: This is a rare boys' love manga without the love. It's a futuristic sci-fi story and I thought it was interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good. There were several volumes worth of plot here crammed into one volume. Without enough eleboration, some things made very little sense. Because of the condensed feel, it also lacked depth. I really wish Sakurai had made this into a series and developed everything a bit more, as it had potential to be really good. As it is, it feels a bit like a barebones outline of a story, with a couple of sex scenes thrown in because it's BL. On the positve side, I do like Sakurai's art and I liked seeing a more ambitious story in a BL manga, even though it failed. I'm also happy that Dramaqueen is still releasing books, and I look forward to reading more by Sakurai in the future.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Mirai no Kioku: Kaze no Yukue (manga) [Rating▲▼] Excellent [Comment▲▼]

Output: This is the sequel to Future Lovers. This second volume is just as good as the first. I especially got a kick out of the future depictions of Kento and Akira as old fogies. Since this is a yaoi manga, I know many people will write it off and that's a shame, as this is a really well written romantic comedy.

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


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

Output: I read in an Ouran volume that the author does eventually plan to continue this story. As of now, it's on hiatus after two volumes. In my opinion, it's a bit rougher than Ouran in the art department and it has a "made up as he/she went along" feel to the plot. The characters make up for this though. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable read. I would like to see it continue.

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


Input: [Read all▲▼] Millenium Darling 2006 (manga) [Rating▲▼] Weak [Comment▲▼]

Output: Too many characters, nonexistant plot, lame humor. I didn't like it and I won't read the sequels.

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


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

Output: This is basically a manga harlequin romance. In this one, Kaya is a secretary and discovers her handsome womanizing boss is a vampire. It's pretty shallow in plot and characterization. The boss is your standard controlling jerk type and Kaya is a "do anything for her man" doormat. These tropes are so old fashioned and well worn that they're not even really used in romance fiction anymore (at least not in anything considered good). As far as this series goes, it was an ok distraction for a couple of hours. it wasn't great, but I found it a somewhat entertaining smutfest.

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