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From reading the summary, many of you will probably think that this is another cliche shoujo where the good girl falls for the bad boy, and, in some ways, it is. However, I also felt that Kyou, Koi wi Hajimemasu stands out from other shoujo manga in that it executes some of these cliches smoothly, especially if they are in the "right places."


Story (8):
The story starts of with Tsubaki, an "unfashionable country bumpkin girl from the Showa era" that loves to do hair. She fails to make it to the school of her dreams so she has to settle with a school that is way ... below her standards. There, she meets Kyouta, the long-haired main male who she loathes from the very first day of school - I won't go into more detail to avoid spoiling it.

It starts off very cliche, yes, and some events that happen may be unbelievable but I do not think that those specific scenes overshadow the entire story of two opposite teenagers that happen to find love with each other.

I almost dropped this manga because it annoyed me a lot at the beginning and a few parts in the middle, but I'm glad I read it all the way through.


Art (9):
Normally I don't like big-eyed, cutesy, shoujo heroines, but I feel like this mangaka made her proportions just right. Some scenes were drawn sparkly and beautifully, and I loved that the male character wasn't straight faced ALL the time like in other shoujo manga.


Character (7):
I want to say that both leads pissed me off to no end. For a shoujo heroine, Tsubaki, in my opinion, was actually not as stupid as I thought she would be. Sure, she got herself into compromising situations, but I feel that most of those were out of her hand.

After re-reading the manga a second time, I am glad that I noticed that Tsubaki didn't really change herself for a guy, much like other heroines tend to do. Although certain attitudes and viewpoints change because of falling it love, the decisions that she makes in the manga are things that she wants to do, not because she was forced into it.

Kyouta, on the other hand, also made me mad because I thought that he had the stupidest reason for ....well, you'll see when you get there.

(Possible spoiler?) So glad that he's a very committed boyfriend that didn't "waver" or anything of the sort, even with his playboy past.


Luckily, both of these characters (in my opinion) undergo some really good character development as the story progresses, both in terms of how they treat each other and the people around them. They learn to be more honest and open with their feelings, and I like that both of them had career goals for the future that may or may not have included the other person.

Don't get me wrong, they still create really avoidable misunderstandings, but probably as frequently as you would see in the average couple.

If I were to rate these characters for the latter half of the story, I probably would have given an 8 or a 9, but I have to take into consideration their actions in the beginning of the manga too.


Enjoyment (9)
Despite its cliches, flaws, and stupid moments, I enjoyed this manga a lot. Would I read it again? Yeah, but I'd probably skip over the chapters that I didn't like or the scenes that I felt were unnecessary - there are enough cute scenes in this manga to keep me busy haha.



Overall (8)
Even if my entire review sounds like I'm praising this manga, I don't want to mislead anyone by making it sound better than it really is. It isn't for everyone, and while I am usually a picky reader (almost dropped this one), I feel that everyone should give this a try because the ending is definitely worth it.