Handsome na Kanojo

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It took me two days to read this but only because I was busy during those two days. But the important thing was I enjoyed this manga pretty well!

I first discovered Handsome na Kanojo by looking through the Skip Beat's recommendation page. I like the synopsis, the fact that the main character is an actress, the plot revolving around show biz and the kinda old art which made me quickly decide to read it. It was a good choice.

I give the Story and 8/10 because it is a typical showbiz story line. They have similar hurdles, and story arcs with only a select few ... twists to make it original. Even though it's kinda typical, I enjoyed reading Handsome na Kanojo just like I enjoyed reading Skip Beat, Glass Mask and any show-biz manga I've read. You can't help but enjoy reading the same thing. After all, you read the same thing because you enjoyed it in the first place.

Next, I give the Art a 9/10. I'm a fan for old-art, 'nuff said. Although this art isn't kinda old (unlike Glass Mask, Kanata Kara and Red River) but it gives that old art vibe especially with the story's time setting being in the late 1900s I think. But aside from that, the art is pretty good in displaying the emotions and the hidden thoughts the character have. Also, being a show-biz manga with acting as the main focus, you need to portray the facial emotions and expressions that an actor has properly and the art in Handsome na Kanojo did just that and probably better. When Ichiya said that Mio was his perfect Handsome Woman, I very much agree because the art that drew Mio and portrayed her facial expressions, body language and while she acted in Ichiya's first debut movie gave that vibe of a handsome woman indeed.

Thirdly, for the Character in Handsome na Kanojo, I'm giving it a 10/10. The only reason was because all the characters had real character development. The reasons why they did what they did was made clear and I thought it was reasonable. It was so good that when the manga ended, I had no ill feelings nor hatred towards any of the characters in the manga. In addition to that, nearly 3/4 of the characters got paired so I'm happy XD!

Nearing to the end, I give the enjoyment 9/10 and I truly enjoyed it. With that small exception of getting really annoyed and pissed by Ichiya's reluctant decision to go through with a relationship at the beginning and Arthur and Keith's persistent nature (I have a problem with stubborn people. It's good but not too much, please). But all ended well so I got over it quickly. Along with the side stories and Omake, it was quite an enjoyable series. I mean the side-stories, besides being one-shot, were pretty enjoyable. The comical side of the series were also good!

Overall, I give it a 9/10 because it was good in many place but it does have some flaws at times but you can't deny a manga being good because of those flaws. Just give the first chapter a try and judge whether you want to continue from there or not. And I just realized that the mangaka who wrote this was the same as Marmalade Boy... Well, I'm planning to read that next since I hear that Ichiya and Mio will be mentioned in it or maybe appear in the series! ;)

Handsome na Kanojo is a late 80's/early 90's shoujo romance. Mio is an up-and-coming actress who falls for Ichiya who aspires to be a director. It seems like it's on par with many other shoujo of that time period, but I feel like it has a pretty major flaw in the writing. It feels like the author likes to keep throwing more and more rivals and drama onto the pile, rather than spend the time to properly flesh out anything.

For example, one rival for Mio's love dramatically declares his rivalry to Ichiya, for literally nothing to come of it. He and Mio barely even interact. ... Or the time Mio dates someone else, and everything seems fine until suddenly on the next page when it all catastrophically explodes. I've seen that exact same sort of relationship played out in other shoujo manga much better, since they actually took the time to show how the one sided-ness just doesn't work. I've read other shoujo that has a similar sort of amount of dramatic events, but usually they're much longer. This manga is only thirty five chapters long, compared to something like Skip Beat which is nearing three hundred.

It's too bad because I thought it had potential, but the author really just rushed it too much. But at the same time, I've also seen much, much worse. So if you've really like shoujo and are looking for something you haven't read already, this one isn't bad.