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Feb 3, 2022
I want to start my review saying that I’m a biased person when it comes to Lovely Complex. I’ve watched the anime years ago and it left a deep impression on me, so when the manga started being published in my country, I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I’ve re-read it all two times already (something I don’t usually do, at least not in less than ten years time span). Therefore, I felt compelled to write some words about it, because, despite its flaws, it remains as a very memorable story for me.
I can’t stress enough the fact that this began being serialized more than
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20 years ago! And having a shoujo demography, you would expect a lot of clichés from that time (which definitely have), but I still find it refreshing. I love how the author balance the comedy with sensitiveness. It doesn’t shy off from the drama, but doesn’t rely heavily on it too, something I appreciate a lot, as I’m not a big fan of characters crying all the time and adding misunderstanding after misunderstanding without any conclusion or development.
The main characters are very well defined in term of personality since the beginning, so the more the story advances, more chances we have to dive deeper on them, helping empathizing and understanding them. I’m not going to lie, the additional characters serve more to create conflict and keep the story going on than any other reason, so it becomes repetitive after some time, still, I was attached already with the main ones to care how they would solve the problems thrown at them (and for the most time, they didn’t let me down). Also, the whole cast is diverse and interesting on their own way.
As I mentioned before, some clichés are used as a plot device, however, the antic comedy or the interaction among the characters made me enjoy the ride. Things don’t get stuck for too long, especially because of the side characters, as they honestly voice out their opinions about the conflicts arisen and being quite sensible, serving as a third person point of view or even speaking what is going on the reader’s mind. The romances portrayed aren’t overly complicated or passionate, and can be a slow burn for the main couple, which was quite endearing for me, as it follows a more organic approach (but it has way more action than the ones who just show characters blushing, I reassure you).
Nitpicking on one aspect, it would be the moments where they highlight “men are like this and women like that” in a restrictive way. Such dialogues made me roll my eyes sometimes. That said, these discourses don’t stop the characters to break from gender roles or stereotypes from time to time, encouraging people to be the versions that they are the most comfortable with, and that’s why I think it’s a work that somehow aged pretty well (not all the “jokes” though).
The art’s biggest strength is definitely the characters’ expressions. They perfectly settle the mood for the story, creating the atmosphere and expected impact. We don’t see a big investment in depicting the scenarios, but I thought some stylistic decisions and angles takes were interesting, like when the characters are serious or making their comedy act. I appreciated the different clothes, accessories and hair styles arrays too, contributing to characterization.
Overall, LoveCom remains a great source of entertainment for me, one where I can find joy and characters that I relate, care and cheer on. I recommend it to anyone who just want a light and warm-hearted reading (with lots of bantering)!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 13, 2021
Finally, a manga that is upfront to address and question binary constructions. It doesn’t only break gender roles switching them like a typical gender bender, it goes beyond. It opens the possibility to identify with some things that society expects you to be/like, but at the same time not accept what is imposed and not fitting. Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku (Kanoboku) turns the classic question “Who I am?” to “Who I want to be?” and the message that stayed with me the most was: when the boxes available for you are too constricted, it’s ok to create new ones or even question the
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existence of boxes!
I personally got attached with each one of the characters and their struggles. The ones who were presented got a decent spotlight and construction, although from my perspective some things got solved too quicky. Well, it could be seen as one of the strongest points of this manga: it doesn’t rely heavily on drama, although it touches on topics that could give enough material for that. It has a lighter approach, making it a supportive and most of the time a safe environment for the characters to experience their struggles. This isn’t a complain, I believe we need more works portraying social minorities that are hopeful without disregarding their suffering or challenges they might face.
The number of chapters seems a lot, but it was a very fast reading for me. The characters’ design have unique points and we have interesting frame angles here and there. It was very minimalistic and nothing averts your attention from one of the main points: characters interactions with one another. Talking about interactions, the author gave a thoughtful approach to that, but sometimes it sounded very “theoretical” to me. I could see that Takase Umi had some prior knowledge/contact with expansive genders and sexualities discussions/experiences/theories before publishing Kanoboku, some references could be seen here and there, however, when a character was having a difficult time, it’s almost shocking how there was always someone to say and do just the “right” thing. Almost as if some texts and books I read were personified.
Saying all that, I really enjoyed reading it. I empathized with each journey portrayed and it became a good source to see a queerer coming-of-age story (ies) and reflect about myself, be it related to gender, sexuality, friendship, love, identity, relationships, values… I believe it’s worth the reading, offering some food for thought!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 15, 2021
I’ll keep it short. This is a romance story with a slice of life pace. The difference? We have a look into some of the struggles gay people (and bisexual?) might have. I’m in no position to say how realistic the story is, as I’ve never faced those situations myself, but considering what I’ve seen and from my understanding, it touched on important topics like: prejudice, the impact of social/family acceptance (or lack of it) and insecurities/fears/awareness that heterosexual people usually don’t have.
I’m not gonna lie, we can find some common tropes, like the “fate/ destiny” one, and clichés here and there, however,
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they weren't the main factor building the relationships. And the drama doesn’t rely heavily on “Do they like/love each other? Will the couple end up together?”, but more like “If they end up together, how is it going to work? What is necessary for that?”. As a sucker for stories that focus on characters and their relationships (not only romantic ones), caring about the process, I’m satisfied with what was delivered. It’s a work that stand out among others on the BL and romance genres for me.
If you decide to give Here U Are a chance, I recommend paying attention on what makes the characters fall in love or strengthen their bonds with one another. Not from a judgmental stance, but trying to solely understand them. I’m pretty sure you will recognize similar dynamics playing around you or even expand your point of view on these matters.
Considering it’s a colored work, I enjoyed the details and how the backgrounds aren’t dull. The lightening and scenarios change quite often, adding to the story. For example, through the interior design choices, we can see that the characters we follow aren’t tight on budget or have families with a good financial condition overall. Also, although I’m not into fashion, I think the clothes choices reflect a lot about the characters and their personalities.
My favorite element is how they interact with each other though, expressing different sides of themselves and giving a more 3D aspect to them. In addition, I personally like the author brief appearances. I find their antics comical, but underneath all that, I see how D Jun put effort and consideration into Here U Are, paying attention to reader’s feedback and details as well. It isn’t a flawless work (is this even possible, considering how artists/writers, who are humans, are "flawed" too?) and might not be for everyone’s taste, but I found it to be a heartwarming and meaningful one. I had a good experience and I’ll probably remember positively about it in the future as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 14, 2021
Before sharing my considerations about the series, let me just say what motivated me to write this review. While reading other people’s point of view, I created some expectations that weren’t fulfilled. This might be a personal experience, but I thought about expressing my 2 cents.
I want to first contextualize the story. At the moment I’m writing this review, it’s been 20 years from its first release and almost 30 years from the prequel (The Cain Saga). Kaori Yuki is a veteran mangaka, who acquired a broad recognition and made justice to the “Queen of Gothic Manga” title. Godchild was the first work I read
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from her and, basing my analysis only on that, I see why she was a big influence on many shoujo and manga that followed her, also being a pioneer (or at least one of the most prominent names) exploring elements such as mystery, horror and the Victorian setting on a “girl’s magazine” in the nineties. And I believe that’s enough to set her name apart on this field.
Now, about my experience reading it. I didn’t read the prequel first and I don’t think it was necessary to understand the story. After I finished it, I decided to check The Cain Saga more as an “extra” source where I could see the backstory of characters I was interested and maybe having another perspective looking at the previous events after knowing the “secrets” unveiled in Godchild.
Godchild’s story is structured in “arcs” and some of them don’t add too much on the main story aside of knowing more about Cain and his relationships. We are presented to many characters whose roles are restricted to that specific arc and for some time it felt “which murder case are we going to solve now?” CSI type of episode. Nevertheless, it kept me going forward to know about Cain’s past and all the intrigue he was put through, the reasons behind it. When we finally reach that… everything happens in a fast speed and it seems too much to handle in little space and time. Although some events were foreshadowed and hints were given here and there, new characters were presented arc after arc and we couldn’t know more about their story in an organic way, making them spill those informations in a few balloons later on, because otherwise we wouldn’t even know that. It made me wonder why not exploring or having them in mind since the beginning instead of those “episodic” arcs, or maybe making the series longer?
Another thing I’d like to point is the “twisted” or “human nature” people like to mention in her work. I don’t deny it, we can find them, but most of the time it felt scattered to me. There were too many things to cover: the main character, the construction of the relationship between characters, the motifs behind the villains, the hidden goal of Cain’s father and not forgetting about the “victim(s)” of the arc and how Cain got involved with them. It made the arc cases solved too fast sometimes, lacking the “mysterious” and “thriller” impact. Kaori Yuki uses all elements necessary for these genres, but the final result and experience weren’t delivered as such, only serving as cheap distractions for me until I can finally put my hands on the answers I was waiting for. [Might have SPOILERS until the end of the paragraph, not major ones, though] I will make an exception for Castrato arc, not because it doesn’t have the aspects that I’ve just mentioned, but I believe they were delivered in a better way and I could use it as an example: we have Cain getting closer to Delilah’s organization plans, a Delilah agent having a more active role, family issues being raised, historic and societal issues explored together with the post effect on the “unfortunate character who got involved with Cain” and an ending that clearly hinted the plot moving forward. And it didn’t feel convoluted from my perspective [SPOILER END].
Something I wanted to praise is the usage of religious and Mother Goose tales symbolic references, it helped setting the mood and I enjoyed it very much in the beginning. However, because of the fast pace ending, the explanations and reasons behind everything didn’t sit right with me. It felt rushed and lost the impact it could have, religion and convenience coming together sometimes and feeling more like an excuse than a proper explanation. Especially knowing that Kaori Yuki had the ending on her mind since the beginning, it made me think why not construct a more focused and linear narrative instead of trying to distract us on arcs and having characters repeating the same actions before we get into the core of the story?
In addition, I found weird how the “villains” only goes towards religion discourse when it comes to the “evil”. And how “occultism” is mixed as a fashion. God is mentioned here and there as a “divine force”, but we don’t see neither Cain nor his nobility family with “Christian habits”, even if only to keep up appearances. It gave me the impression of being used only as props, so we could have metaphorical “sins”. Well, maybe the characters were all mad/twisted/degenarated indeed and used these symbologies as a foundation for their wicked actions, but that’s not for my taste, it lacks the ambivality I seek when it comes to what it’s usually called as “human nature”. Delilah agents (people connected to Cain’s father) may have had being portrayed in a better light regarding to that, but they didn’t have enough exposure and focus most of the time.
Saying all that, I still liked to see Cain’s relationship with the ones close to him. I was emotional invested on that and when I finished reading the series, I was satisfied. This probably is the most common shoujo element (not implying it’s an exclusive shoujo thing), but I enjoyed seeing where the main character stands when it comes to his family, comrades, “enemies”, girls, noble people and commoners, as well as his “social status”. And as time went by, I also grew found of some characters, especially Cain’s allies. Overall, Cain is portrayed as a martyr, but whose noble pride and irreverence won't allow him to be pitied or looked down on, leading to some interesting developments and exchanges.
I personally like the art, although I can see it fits in a certain frame in time, what were common back then. Kaori Yuki’s improvement it's noticeable after The Cain Series and the details drawn added its flavor. It isn’t the goriest thing I’ve ever seen, but bloody nonetheless. The mangaka didn’t shy out to depict some scary and horror/shocking scenes, without being too graphic at the same time. I don’t know if it was a type of censorship, but I appreciated the balance.
In summary, I believe it’s an entertaining series even 20 years after its release (particularly when we contextualize it). However, after reading it, I must say that my experience was pretty different from the other reviews I found. That’s why I give it a 7, considering both what I believe it did and didn’t work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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