Jul 2, 2013
If you just want a quick review I would recommend you skip to the enjoyment and overall section.
Story - 6/10
This manga certainly wouldn't win any awards for originality but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Our main character Kyoko ends up having to live with and become housekeeper to three bishie brothers. She learns that maybe the brothers are more connected to her own family than originally thought. Kyoko's mother seems to be hiding various secrets about the brothers' family and Kyoko's own father. If you've read Miki Aihara's other work "Hot Gimmick" this family secret/drama storyline might seem very similar and it is. Perhaps,
...
all of her works are like this but I wouldn't know since these are the only two I've read. I actually found this part quite interesting, even if it did get silly occasionally. I found myself trying to guess who Kyoko's father is, why is her mother so involved in the family, etc. So it's quite successful in that respect.
As well as this "mystery" aspect we also have the sibling-love triangle (I don't think I'm really giving any spoilers away here just look at the front cover). All the brothers are given various romantic moments but it soon does become fairly obvious who she's going to end up with or at least it did to me but maybe I read too much shojo.
Art 7/10
I actually really liked the art. Her style is original and easily recognisable and she draws kisses very well, ha ha. There were problems with proportion, however. Sometimes the characters had ridiculously long legs and sometimes their hands were really big. The character designs weren't anything amazing but I liked how the brothers were very easily distinguishable from each other and the fact they had slightly different faces rather than all the brothers having the same face and just different hairstyles (I've seen this way too often in manga). The backgrounds weren't great. A lot of them were real photos that had been edited to give a comic style but the ones that had been drawn weren't bad.
Characters 6/10
None of the characters really stood out for me. The main heroine isn't too bad. At the start she is really determined, self-dependant and quite funny. Unfortunately, after all the drama starts she becomes a bit annoying and ends up running away or having arguments with the other characters for
reasons I don't know. It's a bit of a shame that she ends up throwing her aspirations away for the sake of a guy but this is a shojo manga not real life so I can't really complain. Anyway, let's talk about the brothers (hopefully without making this sound like an otome game)....
Tamaki is the oldest brother. He's good-looking, smart and everyone loves him, even Kyoko's mother. Of course because he's so popular with pretty much everyone his brothers don't really like him. Much like the other brothers though, he has his own secret that could tarnish his "perfect" reputation.
Mito is the middle brother. He's the sporty playboy type who doesn't really care about his studies or taking part in his club. He has that kinda "delinquent" aspect to him (the numerous piercings on his ear are evidence of this).
Shisuka is the youngest. He's the pretty boy who skips school regularly but there's a unique reason why he doesn't want to go. He's quite rude at first but then becomes quite sweet after he warms up to our heroine.
All the brothers are pretty likeable. To be honest I didn't really have a favourite which is quite weird for me because I always end up rooting for one of the characters. But then again, it was good in that I honestly didn't mind who she ended up with (even though it was obvious) as they all seemed to be a good match. I don't think there's much point in mentioning the other characters because they were all pretty average. Overall, the characters were alright, they just weren't anything to shout about.
Enjoyment and Overall 7/10
Shojo mangas can be very hit and miss and I would definitely say it was more of a hit than a miss. The story could be quite interesting in parts and the romance was done rather well. If you hate loads of drama though I would stay clear of this like the plague. If you like love triangles and a bit of mystery and drama give this a shot. If you enjoyed Miki Aihara's "Hot Gimmick" you'll probably enjoy it. I would also say this manga is suited to a older teen audience.
Will I read it again? Probably not, but it was a nice quick read while it lasted.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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