Living Game

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Looking at the premise of Living Game, you may expect a silly, enjoyable romp with goofy humor and awkward situations. While these elements are certainly present, as the chapters flip by, this story evolves into something that is both very real and touches on many issues of life, and living.

Story: The story in Living Game really snuck up on me. While I was enjoying the elements and laughing along, a very real story had naturally evolved and entwined itself with what I was reading. Everything that was introduced felt well paced and natural, even the shocking elements. Characters act how you would actually expect ... people to act in the given situation, giving the story a very real feeling.

Art: Well, it isn't the prettiest looking manga, but it gets the job done. The character designs are very simple, but emotions on the faces are well expressed. The art fits the mood of the story, and I did not find anything that was distracting or jarring.

Characters: Now this is where Living Game gets its charm. Raizo Fuwa is a enjoyable lead, who is just someone going with the flow of life. Izumi Hiyama is a bundle of joy, it is adorable to see how she reacts to the new situation she is put in. When the story gets serious, however, we see our leads develop serious, raw emotion in a believable fashion. Living Game hits with these emotions really well, and I found myself both cheering and crying with the leads.

The secondary characters are also very fun. There are too many to list efficiently, but you can rest assured that they all have their quirks and charms that make the story enjoyable. None of them are throw-away characters either, they all bring something to the story at at least one point.

Enjoyment: Whether it was was watching the characters fall over when something ridiculous happened (seriously, this gag never got old for me, maybe there is something wrong with me...) , or watching the emotional development between Fuwa and Izumi, I was always having a fun time. I laughed audibly multiple times, I flipped pages lightning-quick with heart-a-flutter to see what emotional development awaited me, heck, I even started yelling at the pages. This manga will take you through ups and downs, as well as everything in between, and still come off as a very believable, mature story.

If you are at all interested in romance or drama, I would suggest this manga. Living Game pulls off its comedy and slice of life elements as well, but this is really a love story at its heart. It has undeniable charm, and is my favorite of the romance genre. I recommend Living Game wholeheartedly.

This early manga has a bit of a dated feel to it, and you immediately think of the early 90's. After introducing the main characters, the story began to roll by and a comfortable pace. I'd have to say that this is one of the few times when I didn't notice the evolving storyline, which is always a good thing. The characters are all designed to work with each others personalities and there aren't all too many "minor" characters.
I'd have to say that the main theme of Living game would probably be making decisions in life, hence the name living game. It's mostly ... centered on living space (characters move multiple times through the series) and the futures of the protagonists. The one thing that I noticed the most is the theme of moving on in life. Reading this manga felt like visiting old friends in my opinion.
Only one bad thing: the ending was pretty blah. it just kinda ends the story where it is, but nothing BIG happens. It's not necessarily bad, but it kinda gave me that "wait, it's over?" kinda reaction. like there's a sequel, but there isn't.
All in all, a great manga which truly describes the "slice of life" genre, a good read.

(Spoilers included).
Okay,seeing all the good reviews,you'd think this would be a good and nice 90's romance manga,right? Wrong.

In fact,this is probably the worst romance manga I've read.

The side characters (3):- Extremely bland,three of them have next to no presence (Nanba-the sunglasses lady,the boss,and the older office worker guy).
There is literally only one likeable side character in this manga,and it's the stubborn old man who doesn't meant to move out of his house.

Art (6):- Generic 90's manga artstyle,nothing to hate nor love here.

Main character (3):- Absolutely detestable piece of shit.Has no quirks or things going for him except hiding the lust for a 16 year old,and ... on ocassions thinks of taking advantage of her while she's sleeping.

Love rivals/love interests. :- Basically the reason why I dropped this.The main love interest,basically seems to love the main character out of nowhere.There is no catalyst,no rhyme or reason.Tokiko,the side love interest (or at least she gives the impression that she's supposed to be both at the start.)
Cannot seem to make up her mind on whether to leave her husband or start going after the fuwa again at the beginning,and this plot point is quickly thrown under the rug when she decides to move into fuwa's house along with her husband and starts shagging her old husband right in her ex boyfriend's home.Tokiko leaves him on quite a few occasions,and goes back to him even though he hits her.
After that,it tries to make the husband an actual character by focusing on his ambitions which makes it all the more frustrating.

Comedy (4) :- I'm not sure if I have the humor of a brick or what,but I genuinely did not giggle once at this.

In short,go read Maison ikkoku.This is a piece of garbage that has no excuse to be this bad,considering maison ikkoku came out before it and does basically everything better.This manga is not simply bad ,it's extremely infuriating to read through.