Dengeki Daisy

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Let me start with what I loved the most about this manga. (And this is going to be a long list...)

1. Characters.

There's no place for a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) in Dengeki Daisy. No one is perfect. You cannot just use a blanket descriptor like "kind" or "sweet" for any of them.

Especially the two main characters, Teru and Kurosaki. Dear lord, these two. They're real people - when you finish the manga, you feel like you've known them forever. You understand the things that worry them, the things that make them happy, the things that MAKE them. Their past, their feelings, everything defines and ... shapes them.

Teru could be just another shoujo heroine - there's a real danger of that, considering Dengeki Daisy is a shoujo manga. There are a lot of situations where the mangaka could've taken the easier way out and just labeled Teru to be an absolutely helpless angel who just needs Kurosaki's protection and can't do something on her own. But Teru isn't just another shoujo manga heroine. She's not only strong, independent and unmelodramatic unlike most shoujo girls, she's also very believable. Her reasons for choosing things are sound.

Kurosaki. (If I had to count the number of ways I love him, sigh.) It's been a while since I fell head over heels in love with an imaginary character. But he doesn't even feel imaginary, that's the best part. He's a real man, he isn't just wildly strong or wildly good-looking or wildly successful. He's just a normal guy with a normal job, and he has fears and apprehensions. He's not invincible, he's very human.

The secondary characters aren't far behind in development. They aren't just for show. Each character serves its purpose. From Riko to Rena to even the deceased Souichiro, each character has a job and they all do it splendidly. When a character appears, you know what to expect from them. It feels like you spent several hours just hanging out with all these folks at Master's restaurant.

2. Chemistry and Romance.

Teru x Kurosaki. Early on in the manga (like in the very first chapter - actually, in the first 2-3 pages) you start shipping this couple. And then you never stop.

The chemistry between these two is the kind of stuff that could make your breath catch. He's an adult, she's still a child, and he's very, very mindful of that. With just one look, one word, one action, they show they love each other very much and they crave each other's contact very much. You really wish you could read a chapter from the future where Teru's all grown up and ready to handle the man that Kurosaki is, but nope. This is a shoujo manga of a high school girl called Teru and you have to take a cold shower at the end of the "hot" scenes (and not hot because they're explicit - the author calls this a "lukewarm" manga, but I feel like the characters are enough to set the pages on fire; no need for sexual tension at all) just like Kurosaki is going to have to.

The love doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen because Kurosaki's hot or because Teru's sexy. The love builds on top of (in spite of, as a result of) several trials both the characters go through. Their bond gets stronger with each interaction they have and you can feel it. The romance is very, very satisfying. When you finish the manga, you sigh and wish that there were a couple more chapters after all the JF drama where they both just love and fall deeper in love.

Though this is a shoujo romance manga, it doesn't neglect the other relationships. The chemistry between the MCs and the secondary characters are also tended to with TLC. Teru's relationship develops over time with the rest of the people. She makes new friends, she forgives an old friend, and all of that strengthens the bonds she has with all these people. Kurosaki matures as a character and so do his relationships with the people around him. The friendships feel real and warm.

3. Humor and Drama.

The main thing I love about this manga is, I lost count of the number of times I laughed till my tummy ached and cried till my heart ached throughout the story.

Things may seem like they're taking a turn for serious, and suddenly there's an extremely humorous comment or dialogue that makes you laugh out loud (ugh, the number of times I made a fool of myself in public!). And just when it all looks hilarious, there's one dialogue or just one statement that could make you long for a love like that or a friend like that or something that makes you feel sorry for even the bad guy.

4. Art.

Fantastic. Detailed, beautiful, emotive, meaningful (and I have more adjectives, but I'll stop here).

As for cuteness...

Chibi Teru. Period.

Bonus: Author notes.

I LOVED reading Motomi-sensei's notes and the Q&A sections. Hilarious and extremely cute. Reading the sections has the added benefit of making you feel like you've gotten a bit closer to the characters.

What I don't like about the manga:

Just the rushed ending. That's all. Really can't think of anything else.

The story isn't this manga's strongest point, but it's not the weakest either, it's still pretty detailed. In such a believable manga, some scenes are way too flashy, but it's difficult to nitpick too much when it's all heartfelt and leaves you a molten mass of fuzz.

Give it a try, just because it's addictive and fun, like the best rollercoaster ride you've ever had. It may not be a masterpiece or classic, but it's still one of the best shoujo mangas ever written (and drawn).

Let me start by saying: this is not a terrible manga. I like the protagonist, Teru. A lot of other Shoujo manga protagonists don’t stand out or are boring. She felt a lot more distinct to me. I do think that kurosaki’s hacking abilities are very nonsensical and convenient. Also have a problem with kurosaki and teru’s relationship. She is a 16 year old high school student and he’s a 24 year old janitor. The art is also anatomically ridiculous. If you took away kurosaki and teru’s hair their head would be nearly twice the size it should be. The story, even though it is ... pretty simple, is very entertaining. I was engaged throughout the entire series and cared about most of the characters. If you’re looking for a cheesy romance with some drama, I highly recommend this. If you’re looking for an artistically and creatively beautiful manga, look somewhere else.

At chapter 3, I felt this should not exceed 20 chapters. At Chapter 27, I've dropped it. Please. I can't stand cringiness for 50 more chapters, no way.
Honestly, when people are giving rave reviews on this, it feels like they had only read sooo many bad manga that this was a saviour to them. Please, save yourself from wasting your time.

A good shoujo manga, no matter if it's full of cliched situations or tropes, is nuanced. NUANCED. It is the tiny details, the reactions, the expressions and the analogies that give the characters a body, a persona. There's no ounce of the meaning 'nuance' ... in this. Everything is just blatantly open and put out there. Then again, it was a manga that was expected to end in a few chapters but kept getting revived, so at every chapter, it feels like the end is close, but just because the mangaka got more pages to fill, she was forced to drag on the story.

While Dengeki Daisy surely wants to move away from those cliched high school semester activities and have adults in the mix of protagonists, it takes the route of programmers and hackers (and dare I say even gardening), but all of it is very very amateur. Terms like registry, defrag, proxy are all just thrown in to make it appear technical and complex. Every so-called mystery situation is so blatantly obvious, and immediately given away - there's no good build up. It's like the mangaka thought, "Oh, I want to draw a shoujo romance, but let's give it a mystery turn - ah! Let's spice it up with a hacker hero!" And obviously there has to be some trauma because of course, hacking/cracking is illegal - you don't want to influence kids the wrong way. I mean, sure, use it as a setting. Sure, there's no need for technical accuracy and detail (and honestly, I no longer know what was possible in 2013 as opposed to 2018, but surely it was much more than that). But if you've introduced a plot device which requires intelligence and strategy, be intelligent and strategic about it and rise up to it. This manga surely could not. A loooooot of the situations were just soooo convenient just to give the characters a reason to come together or say something.

When the meaning of the name "Daisy" was revealed - I actually thought - WHOOOAAA - just what does that imply?? And I saw a whole different scenario pop up that diverted this from a shoujo to a seinen thriller. But nooooo... they killed that intensity right at the end of the same chapter with the characters' immaturity. Alas, it remained a shoujo. Just because it was being published in Betsukomi? Who knows.

The characters are as flat as the flat chested female lead, and you can predict that it will never grow. The bad guys are good guys gone awry, or just plain dumb who take their sweet time, the good characters just have so much trust to spare they want to donate it, and of course trauma and guilt needs to be slow-burnt in. The side characters are just there to fill in space, and not actually give support. 90% of the humour is not humourous. Ugh. It just became cringy. While I am 5% happy that Teru, the female lead, is a bit proactive, she still becomes a damsel in distress - not the usual type, but still yes. I can already see she'll heading towards having a saviour complex soon.

At 27 chapters, I don't feel any closeness to the characters. They are not growing on me. I am not excited to find out more about them. The guilt/trauma that's being built up, I don't care about that because I feel like the character is just whining.

I'm just tired.

Here I'll recommend reading cute shorts like 'Nanairo Sekai' or the much more rooted 'Seishun Kouryakuhon', the more nuanced love-tug-drama of 'Hirunaka no Ryuusei', 'Taiyou no Ie', or an actual debate on guilt and moral in the nuanced and intense 'Bones of an Invisible Person' that leaves you feeling something instead of empty.