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I really tried to like this series. It has everything you would want from a shoujo: romance, bishies, comedy....Unfortunately, I just can't get behind the protagonist, Usagi. It seems that the mangaka made her "spunky" to try and compensate for her total lack of abilities. I'll say that she does have appeal as a character, but she is way too useless in the story for my taste--not to mention her quick infatuation with black-haired Hanzou seemed too unnatural for me to want to continue.

If you do decide to read this, I will say that I think there is potential for at least some meaningful ... character development (though I really can't say for sure based on my brief volume and a half of reading). I realize that having read less than 10% is not necessarily a good reference to make an accurate assessment, but I didn't want to spend anymore time reading it. :/

All this being said, I see the capacity this series has for people to like it because I can't deny that it's well executed. There is a good flow of panels and the translation I read was probably one of the best I have ever read (I found it to be very accurate to the original Japanese).

I further appreciated the classic shoujo art style and skimmed the last few chapters to see how it might have changed for the mangaka. I must say, it looked GREAT! The initial style I found quite cute, but once you get to the end it looks really refined and mature.

If the story and the characters had been less...unrealistically stereotypical...I think I would have really enjoyed this manga.

So I started reading this series and a few days ago and I finished the same day. I don't know why I kept reading. I have never encountered such a series before. I kept thinking that this was a really long porno because the only thing that made sense when it was happening was the sexy times. There are no realistic situations throughout the whole series! While I read, I either laughed at the nonsensical direction of the story or read with utter and complete confusion.

This unbelievable train of ludicrousy starts off right from the first chapter when her manager ENCOURAGES the MC, Kirara, to ... sleep with people so that she could become famous, making it seem like it was the best way to become famous (just throw the idea of talent and charisma out the window because that doesn't matter in this series). In fact, the mangaka made it clear that ANYONE striving for fame or power was having sex some way, some how, and makes it even clearer that this series could not continue without sex to push the plot forward (as sad as that may sound). Because of this, the series was really similar to a porno (all though it lasted way longer than some of the guys did, AM I RIGHT?).

As well as having no substantive plot, the ideas portrayed in the manga are really quite awful and absurd (if I haven't already stressed that enough). The men in the series always had the power over women during sex and in general (that isn't always the case however, equality). This very series is an excellent example of what it means to pander to the patriarchal and overwhelmingly misogynistic ideals that are seen in many real world societies (albeit, still exaggerated from the truth). I understand that gender roles are Japan's bread and butter but I think the mangaka overstepped the line by a mile.

I also have some questions for the mangaka regarding the series, though he won't answer. I just thought these were some things I would like to point out (WARNING SPOILERS HERE, SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH):
Are there no such things as STDs here?
Protection? Birth control?
How many times can someone have sex in a day? The characters shouldn't be able to walk after that, right?
How can you decide to retire from being an idol when you are 16? How can you decide to retire from anything when you're 16?
How is it possible that a girl could get flat out wasted from one goddamn sip of alcohol?
How does Kirara eat so much and yet keep her small body?
How many times can the mangaka actually objectify these women to abusive relationships?
How can the main character keep staying near people who have either raped/sexually assaulted/roofied/or almost raped her? And also, is there such a thing as rape in this world?
How can so many people donate bone marrow? Why would they donate bone marrow just to get into a concert for free? Does the mangaka know how much that hurts? Do they know how long it takes to recover from those??

I honestly don't know why I read all of this. I thought that it would get better if I kept going but oh no. Nonono. It just got worse.

I would give Love Celeb a solid "...wut" rating if it were available.

This manga was pretty cute. Short and somewhat gratifying, I would say. Nothing truly spectacular about it except the art (JESUS, Touma can blend eyes to perfection and she draws people very well annndd does an excellent job of drawing facial emotional expressions). And if you like Touma's art style, check out Reimei no Arcana.

I have to warn you, Meiko (main character) keeps trying to solve her problems by running away at everything (you see her run away so often you wonder how people are able to have conversations with her XD ). I probably found that the funniest in the manga.

If you are willing ... to have a quick laugh and appreciate a glimpse in the happenings of a cute school romance, read it!

If you read this manga online, websites tend to present the one-shot version as "Chapter 0" and would highly recommend those of you interested in reading this to start with that first if you want to compare to the longer manga version. Otherwise, start with Chapter 1 (duh).

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this short manga and would say that it is fairly well executed short story. Reading some earlier reviews, I learned that some people are pointing out that it is a rip off of Attack on Titan. While I understand why others may consider it a poor imitation, I have to disagree.

The ... one-shot holds truer to the thought of an imitation, but if you read the completed manga, Yagi Tomohiro is able to make it his own. Though he keeps the basis of the Iron Knight in a post apocalyptic world, he incorporates his own ideas for the plot well.

Tomohiro also does a phenomenal job on developing Teppei's character! He is able to make the reader truly concerned for Teppei and empathize with his situation. Yagi puts Teppei in a better light as he exhibits Teppei's iron moral (pun intended) in facing each new challenge. At the same time, Yagi doesn't overdo the emphasis on Teppei's role as the hero by clearly showing his weaknesses often. He is misunderstood and beat down often but able to stand right back up and keep going. A great trait for a "strong" hero, but it is appreciated that Teppei's ability to withstand strife is not constantly preached by the mangaka. In doing this, Yagi makes Teppei seem more realistic, showing that he can keep going on his journey the same way that one moves on in life.

I enjoyed the overall simplicity of the art as it was intended to be a light read. I'm not saying that the drawing was rudimentary (quite the opposite), but it was nice to see that it paralleled the idea of the story.

I would recommend this to anyone who appreciates a story that, first of all, concludes, and is in itself an interesting read. I'm not going to label myself as having a refined taste for manga, I'm simply an enthusiast who enjoys manga. The Iron Knight really reminds me of the layout of a video game that I played (I can't remember what it was though). But, if this were the plot of a well executed video game, I would play it.

Since I can only find reviews from almost 10 years ago, I will provide a fresher set of eyes on this manga series since it's finished. I'm no manga critic but I can say that this is probably one of the better short mangas that I have read in a while.

Hatori really did an excellent job executing the plot, and her character development was great considering she only had about 17 chapters to do it. Short stories don't have to be complicated or unique to be good. While the premise and the actual characters are very basic, Hatori is able to make it an ... enjoyable read.

I noticed while I was reading that Hatori understood that it was a bit of a cliche and acknowledged that through direction of the character development, making them act in less serious ways than one would normally think (for instance, the fact that Touya is an ANEMIC vampire and how Chiyuki always teases Touya instead of being hopelessly distraught by her feelings).

This story isn't a "true work of manga genius" in the way that many may think. It displays Hatori's skill in character development (for sure) and her ability to incorporate a more realistic touch in a story based in fantasy, making the reader think "yeah, this seems possible". (She only adds a little fluff in the end)

As an Ouran High School fan, I really appreciated reading something else of hers and would really recommend it to others who enjoyed the Ouran manga and even the anime. I love her drawing style <3

P.S. ~ Whoever reads all of this is really super mega cool 'cause
1) You like old manga (or are at least considering reading this)
2) You read all that I wrote, which is pretty ridiculous for an 18 chapter manga...