Honey and Clover - Yay or Nay?

 

Honey and Clover is a 10 volume series by Chica Umino, which is printed by Viz medias Shojo branch, Shojo Beat. It is a Josei series with a male protagonist driven series that is aimed at a female audience, which is not a common theme these days, which is such a pity.

I honestly don't particularly like this series despite it deviating from the norm. I don't particularly like the fact that the characters don't look their age, it really throws me off sometimes. I do like how refreshing it is to have a main character as a male, which is not often seen outside a few titles like Hatsu*Haru and My Love Story.

Not particularly fond of the art style either, maybe that's just me but it's not something I'd enjoy looking at for long periods of time. It gave me a headache at one point, could be the art or me trying to keep figuring out the story, who knows.
The characters are okay, Morita being the only outstanding one to me in the end while the others didn't really leave a lasting impact, not even the main protag had a redeeming thing about him that would make him stick out.

There is a typical love triangle trope going and it's not enticing for some reason, feels kind of forced and in some instances, kind of creepy.
Like the story seems interesting but lack of hook and how disjointed it felt made me reconsider it further. It didn't seem to flow or it reminded of someone randomly thinking back on a memory rather than how a story should feel. 
Sure it got good in some parts but it feels off, not something I'd peg for myself but others may enjoy it, so do consider looking into it.

I rather have the story follow the guys more than anything else, it would have been far more interesting, which is a huge bonus for this story since it kind of does it, in a way. It would set it apart from other Josei and Shojo series that are slowly coming out these days. Heck, the years ago there was more variety, which is such a pity it's not happening now while people are dealing with corvid and have a strong fanbase compared to when I first started.

This is probably not a series for me, it probably end up in the section of series I assumed may like if I read more but end up resenting spending so much on it. Other titles like this includes Ao Haru Ride, Sand Chronicles and We Were There, they started off good but I stopped enjoying them before long, which was such a disappointment but it can't be helped, like people, you can't like everything.
Honestly, the more I read, the less interested I had become to the extent it was basically a chore to even read said volume. I'd hate to think that if this volume felt tiring to read, I dread to think what the other 9 volumes would feel like.

You can find some copies at Book Depository

VERDICT: Nay~

Ramble about Io Sakisaka

 

Today, I feel like rambling about the three series available in English by a recently popular mangaka, Io Sakisaka.

Most know that I enjoy a plethora of manga, I try not to judge or compare but after a while, you start to since reading and collecting mangas since my early teens, I have finally figured out what I like and dislike. What I want from series. What I expect from series.

So, I am now at a stage where I want to talk bluntly how I feel by comparing the works of one creator amongst their title range. I plan to do this with other creators like Arina Tanemura (Sakura Hime, Idol Dreams, Gentlemen's Alliance Cross), Junji Ito (Uzumaki, Gyo, Tomie) and Maki Enjoji (SP Baby, An Incurable Case of Love, Happy Marriage), just to name a few where I have several of their series.

Let's begin with these three shall we.

Firstly, Io Sakisaka specialises in school life shojo, which is pretty common for most shojo series. I enjoy the art, find it very cute but the story is debatable, depending on which series we look at.
Some of her characters are very distinct but I have moments where I think they all look the same but that's more me than anything else, so I believe.
The covers are usually colourful and appealing to look at and it's one of the reasons why I picked them up, outside of a few amazing friends saying I should give her works a go.

I started with Strobe Edge, which I enjoyed but the pity about it is, I can't recall the series at all. 
Maybe, compared to the other two who is recently ongoing, it didn't stick but I know it hasn't caused any negative reaction.
It is ten volumes long, which seems to be the shortest of the three, I may reread it again just to write a proper review as an apology to why this was so poorly done.

I know, for a fact, the "coven" I speak to really enjoys this title.

Next is Love Me, Love Me Not.
This one is honestly my favourite so far of the three.
I enjoy the characters, the story is rather interesting. Despite how vol3 ended, I think it did a better job of confronting issues rather than bugger around with the characters causing issues which could be seen as basically manipulation.
I could almost relate to the characters, mainly Yuna since she is rather quiet, which I myself was in HS, though I never had a liking to shojo since I wanted to be one of those girls. Yea, those "I ain't like most girls" which I bet I was since people always wanted to go against the grain of societies ideals.
Anyway, back to the series that is only three volumes in, with a few characters feeling around how to deal with relationships and how they progress and develop as the story moves on.
This is currently in print with Viz and Shojo Beat, will complete at the twelfth volume.

The final title happens to be the worst one for me,
I started to read Ao Haru Ride for two reasons.
Firstly, I wanted to support any shojo releases in hopes of gaining more series, like Honey Lemon Soda or even Rainbow Days. Secondly, the synopsis sounded good. It did start off amazingly but it started to go sour for me due to how Kou treated, not just his friends, but the two love interests.
Like many try to debate with me, I get Kou had a shitty past but that, in my opinion, doesn't give a character the right to mess with characters.
You ain't sure on how you feel, tell them, try to be honest, don't mess with people, it hurts them more than just you. In reality, being a dick to people get you ostracised, especially when you purposely push them away. A few may stick around but more often then not, it doesn't happen. I should know, I was like Kou, I had a rotten past and pushing people away, not hurt them and made them ditch me but it hurt me. I hate how this manga romanticises that. He was even a dick to the people who wanted to help him but the Kou fan-girls found this endearing and makes me wonder if they really ever interacted with someone like him, cause I bet you my bottom dollar, they call him an arsehole and ditch him.
Again, that's my opinion.

Otherwise the story had potential, mainly in the back-up cast since they seem more solid and less vapid.
Even Futuba, the main female protag, was as shitty as Kou. Sure, Touma shouldn't have been okay with being a replacement for Kou, even offering that option to her was pretty cruel cause shee honestly needed to be alone to deal with the loss of Kou since he couldn't just chose one or even say "I'm not ready, I have to fix myself" instead of letting the things play the way they did, which involved him screwing with Futuba and making her break off a relationship, cause he now decides that he wanted her.

I really did not like the main characters, I liked the idea but not where it went and I cannot wait for the thirteenth volume to finish this series, which is slated for early November, just to say that I've read it. As I say, I always finish what I have started, especially with collections.

So, in conclusion.
Read them and judge for yourself for I will always be bias and dictate what I like due to how I feel.
Personally, I'd skip Ao Haru Ride but it's popular and easier to get compared to Strobe Edge, as well as being one from the end. Love Me, Love Me Not has great potential to be an enjoyable read and worthy of being collected, it's also super cute.

You can obtain them here
Ao Haru Ride BD: http://bit.ly/BD-AoHaru
Love Me, Love Me Not BD: http://bit.ly/BD-LMLMN
Strobe Edge BD: https://bit.ly/BD-StrobeEdge

Crown of Love ~ Initial review

Hey all~!

It's been a while and I blame it on the fact that I haven't bothered with trying to go on the laptop of wondering what to type, so I'm here today to try and do a post about my initial feelings about a series I recent got.

It's called Crown of Love and by the same creator as Loveless, Yun Kouga and it was licensed and distributed by Viz Media and their shojo branch. 

Wiki synopsis:

After a chance encounter, Hisayoshi "Kumi" Tajima falls madly in love with teen idol Rima Fujio. Bewitched by her beauty, he only wants to get closer to her. As a fan, he lives in a separate world. But if he becomes a fellow idol, maybe things will be different. Thus inspired, he strives to achieve his goal.

So far, I've only read the first volume and I'm very meh about it.
The main character is a young man of talent, who gets beaten up by his father when he chose a life as an idol over what his father wants (yes, said father beats his wife too). Falls in love at first site, which, I don't know, I get but find that so boring these days cause he barely knows the lass. I mean, the lass is now better, she longs for someone she really can't have, her mother is legit have some problems and leaches off her daughter and possibly the manager. There is a lot to unpack and this is the first volume.

The art I can't dis since it's an older manga series from 1998, so the quality would seem a bit different compared to other mangas I read, especially ones that have come out in the last five years. For a shojo, it's very blocky and hard lining while there is detail, there is also very little. Despite the fact it got an English release in 2010, which was one interesting time for the manga industry.

Storywise? nothing is grabbing me, I really don't want to continue and I have no motivation from the series itself. Like, I don't care if the guy hooks up with the idol or the school friend or whatever. I mean, there is nothing for me to inspire me to continue but that's just me.

I will confess I got the series second-hand, so I don't feel like I wasted too much on it but I was hoping for more from it. Hopefully it will win me over in the end and so I can write up a new post possibly about it but until then, time to attempt to read it.

So far it's a 2.5 stars from me.

Until next time, read all the things~!