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(CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS)
Rather than ponder over which line to open this review with, I’ve just decided to use them both:

1. I read this for the romance
2. SONOFABITCH!

That’s right, you read #1 correctly—and yes, I know me saying that is close to the border of someone saying “I watch porn for the story.” I started Wolf Guy for the werewolves and stayed for the romance between Inugami and Aoshika. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good romance and I loved the way their relationship was drawn out by the mangaka. It’s not often that I come across a non-shoujo in which I enjoy the love ... story between two characters (and in which the manga is actually labeled as “romance” without all the harems, reverse-harems, ecchi, and smut tags), so I stayed to see how their relationship would progress through this huge, heaping pile of blood, guts, limbs, and psychological warfare. And yes, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into by starting Wolf Guy.

I mean, have you seen the art? Just that is enough to indicate what sort of atmosphere this story will hold: dark, twisted, bleak, and you’ll have to look hard for even the smallest indication of something related to the word “hope”. The facial expressions, especially those of Haguro—the shit-crazed antagonist—stay in your head even after you’ve reached the next chapter. And the shading again, leaves you reading in a hopeless atmosphere for the MC, Inugami. The art for this manga is AH-MAE-ZING, and even the over-exaggeration of facial expressions or body language can’t be denied as adding more to—rather than taking away from—the story.

Regarding the characters, Inugami is indeed, a truly unfortunate MC. Even if he just wants to live his life normally, he attracts trouble regardless—probably has something to do with him being the last werewolf in Japan. Aoshika, Inugami’s homeroom teacher, worries for Inugami even if he tries to distance himself from her. She may seem like a typical positive woman, but her attitude was refreshing in this dark-ridden story. However, because she continues to involve herself with him, even she is met to face the same troubles he does and she’s soon involved in his conflicts.

Most specifically with one character in particular, Haguro, the antagonist of the story. And this dude is bat-shit crazy. Readers can just shrug him off as an extreme evil villain, but that’s exactly what he is. In simple terms, he’s a prideful human—a man who takes pride in his human race. But werewolves are stronger, better than humans, and he therefore takes it into his own hands to hunt and kill the creatures who see humanity as inferior to their own race. Yeah, he’s crazy.

By the way, did I mention these kids are in junior high? Third year junior high to be exact, but when reading manga and becoming immersed in its universe, I can excuse such details. Besides, that’s the least of your worries when reading this manga.

Violence, sexual content, psychological warfare, rape, rape, RAPE! And here’s where the manga leaves you completely dirty and utterly empty (and where the score was lowered). There’s rape in this manga, and it’s no surprise to who. A woman as beautiful and voluptuous as Aoshika is bound to meet an ill fate in this type of manga. But when the mangaka “parades” this gang rape act on Aoshika throughout multiple chapters, it’s just…well…wrong.

There could be multiple reasons for this several-chapters expansion of the act of raping a woman: 1. To add shock factor 2. To add a sense of realism (as I’m sure time goes by much slower for a rape victim) or 3. Some sort of sick fan service

Regardless of the reason for Aoshika’s rape, none of these justify it for me. I mean, I was left shocked from a MALE getting raped in this manga—and this indeed did happen and I was left confused and shocked for days. Even if it was only one PAGE compared to Aoshika’s +however many chapters of rape, it still left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I’m no feminist, but GAHD, does talking about this make me feel a little hollow on the inside. Seriously, can you imagine waiting for an update on this manga only to be met with a rape chapter over and over again?

I can continue to go on about how “Rape is bad. Rape is wrong,” but for the sake of this review, I’ll move on. Because I sincerely hope my manga/anime community at least hold some morals, even if the majority of us (including me, most of the time) just take in things as we see/read it without much thought and even if we have a thing called hentai where anything and everything can happen.

Now, moving onto my second review opening (refer to #2 at the beginning of this review), this concerns the ending. Never mind that I had to pull through the rape shit, but I had to suffer from the ending as well. Part of me expected it, and yet another part of me wanted it to end a different way—in a definitive way—and not exactly as a happily-ever after. Because really? Only an idiot or someone innocent (in which case, you’ve been forever tainted through this manga) would expect a happy ending to Wolf Guy.

Overall, this manga left me feeling empty. And caged in my room. And sobbing for days in the corner with absolutely no light to penetrate my dark, murky soul.

So here’s the question…will you enjoy this manga? Yes to the peeps who enjoy dark stories full of gore and psychological madness. No to my fellow shoujo maniacs and Kimi ni Todoke readers.

Did I enjoy it? No matter how much it left me bitter and empty, yes. Yes, I did. Only because I like darker stories, though this was borderline plain ridiculous from all the scenarios.

As for the romance—my original intent to reading and sticking with this manga to the bitter end—I cried for both Inugami and Aoshika. I really did.

Story: 9

Hakuji focuses on the dark and desperate love of Akiharu, a genius painter, and Seika, a high school girl who becomes a model for Akiharu’s works. While the beginning of Hakuji seems light and fluffy, there’s definitely a dark undertone quietly taking its place in the story within the very first chapter. Though a shoujo, the manga is also psychological, and honestly, most readers will not be able to zoom through this manga and completely understand everything that is going on. You have to read every word, and even then, you’d have to read in between the lines to empathize with the characters’ emotions. ... The English translations were done very well, but I knew that if I could read the manga in its original language format, it’d leave an even bigger impact.

The manga focuses on the aspect of “I want to touch you, but I don’t want to taint you.” The subject of “tainting” has plenty of times been mentioned in romances, but most of the time, it involves the guy being with so many girls that he doesn’t want to taint the pure, virgin heroine (aka, he might be carrying a STD).

But Hakuji approached the subject on a different angle—a psychological angle. And it works.

Art: 9

Of course, in a manga about painting, I expected the emotions and atmosphere to be displayed well. And I wasn’t disappointed. What really shines are the facial expressions. You can tell when someone is frightened, desperate, aching, and just plain crazy. And the black and white schemes to show something “pure” and something “tainted” were wonderfully done. Mix the two colors and you’re left with one of Akiharu’s paintings of a tainted Seika—a dangerously beautiful artwork.

Character: 8

Seika isn’t really a unique character. She’s really just a typical shoujo heroine. She’s kind, she’s forgiving, and she’s selfless. But at one point, she becomes more humane (what I call humane, others will probably call a mental breakdown) and I found that I enjoyed reading about that lapse of emotion she experienced, even if it wasn’t exactly healthy for her.

Opposite to her is Akiharu, a man who stopped aging at fifteen years old. Because of his genius painting skills, he was sheltered from the rest of the world by his mother, as she didn’t want the world to taint her son’s talent. But because of that sheltered and isolated life, he begins to experience new things at extreme levels from his interactions with Seika. And this is where the story stems from: Ahikaru’s first emotional experiences.

(In replacement of Enjoyment…) Romance: 9

This is just from what I’ve interpreted it, but rather than calling their relationship with each other at the beginning as love, it’s more believable to label it as fascination or even lust. Really, the romance between the two is sort of superficial at the beginning. While Seika experiences this case of insta-love syndrome, Akiharu—though he voices that he doesn’t—sees Seika as an object to taint. To quote from the manga, “it’s like when you trample on new snow…or paint a canvas black”.

There’s some satisfaction to flattening a fluffy pile of snow under your boot or coloring a blank canvas in your color, and that’s what Akiharu is seemingly going through. Eventually though, a love forms between them in which they’re completely desperate and reliant upon each other and only each other. And I love that the manga touched upon how unhealthy this sort of relationship is, even if I’m not the type to blur the lines between reality and fantasy. When they refuse to acknowledge that they are not the only people in the world, their love takes a dangerous and suffocating turn in which they slow destroy each other by isolating themselves—and in Akiharu’s case, he took one step forward and two steps back.

To me, this sort of romance is alright and harmless in story/fantasy form. But in real life and reality, it’s unhealthy and dangerous. The fact that Hakuji touched on this gave it a bit more realism which I can appreciate.

It really did amaze me how the romance progressed through this manga. Their love, though unstable at times, was believable and became something I was satisfied with.

Overall: 9

Hakuji isn’t a typical shoujo manga. It’s dark and gritty and even if it’s only two volumes long, a lot of emotions were experienced through the read. There’s so much to speculate and talk about and go into detail with, but then I’d be spoiling the manga for you all who haven’t read it.

So here’s what I say to those who are debating whether to read it or not:
If you’re expecting a typical, light, sort of smutty shoujo, then throw those expectations away. There are indeed intimate scenes in this manga, but they’re not there just to show some sexy time, they’re there to show desperation, passion, and discovery. If you’re coming into this manga, expecting to just read through it quickly, you’ll only find yourself disappointed and most likely confused.

Be ready to speculate and read between the lines. If not, you’re going to be in for a bumpy ride full of “I don’t get it,” “What does that mean?” and “This is stupid.”

Then again, everybody’s entitled to their own opinions.

I enjoy my fluffy shoujos, but I enjoy my dark shoujos even more. And Puzzle is one of those. Sort of. I’ve read darker, but I still appreciate the existence of this manga.

This story touches topics that have been covered plenty of times by plenty of people (bullying, not fitting in, being who others want/see you to be rather than being true to yourself, finding someone who understands you), but I can’t roll my eyes at it or hate it. The story uses the idea of puzzle pieces, and though it’s not an original idea, I still can’t help but find authors/writers who use this ... premise clever—especially when it’s used with romance.

Essentially, Miyabi has lived her life with a façade and has been trying to find a place where she belongs. When it seems like she’s finally found solace in a boy named Kounoike, he’s shunned by everyone else because of his criminal of a father. Miyabi loses her solace, but she changes herself to better fit with Kounoiki. They are pieces of a puzzle that fit together and Miyabi refuses to connect to those who do not fit her “contours”. All she wants is to finally connect with someone, but Kounoiki knows that if he allows himself to be with her, he’ll just drag her down with him.

I can see why this story doesn’t appeal to some readers—as they prefer their shoujo light and soft. But stories such as Puzzle, which is gritty and sticky deserve love too. And I happen to prefer these darker shoujos than the majority of lighter ones. Overall, the raw emotions displayed in Puzzle satisfied me and I only wish that—on occasion—other shoujos will take a risk to a darker “psychological” approach in their stories as this manga did.

Ao Haru Ride is becoming pretty big but the story sounded like any typical shoujo so I was reluctant to start it. Yet at the same time, I wanted to give the author a chance to pull me into her storytelling, so I started with her completed work Strobe Edge.

How should I describe this manga?

…Meh.

Story: 7

There are plenty of clichés to point out, but ultimately, Strobe Edge covers what it feels like to fall in love and the heartache you’re bound to feel when it happens.

... Art: 7

It’s shoujo, but the eyes are especially big in this one. Other than that, everything’s decent.

Character: 6

I’m not going to say something stupid like I couldn’t connect with them because to me, characters don’t need to be relatable in order for me to like them. However, the characters in this manga are likeable. The protagonists aren’t annoying and the side characters have their reasons for doing whatever they’re doing.

But in all honesty, everybody was sort of bland. I didn’t really fall in love with any of them and neither did I cheer them on. Considering the fact that most shoujos have annoying heroines and “I’m too cool and cocky for you” love interests, these characters were more chill, so I give them a 6.

Enjoyment: 6

Okay, so far, it may sound like I didn’t really enjoy the manga. That’s…sort of true? I guess?

Look, this isn’t a bad manga. By no means is it a bad manga! It’s decent! Believe me, it is! But this is MY review of Strobe Edge, and ultimately, what I feel about it. So here’s MY issue with this manga:

It’s the emotions. When I read this manga, I felt like the author was trying too hard. That may sound harsh, but that’s what I felt when I read it. The emotions just felt stiff. When something sad happened, I felt as if the author was nudging you with her elbow and saying, “And THIS is what you’re supposed to feel! Do you feel it? It hurts, right? Right? Do you feel that? It’s the heartache. Right?”

Ummm……….riiiigghhht…….

The appropriate thing to say is “show, don’t tell,” which is really ironic since this is a manga. I guess one of the issues is the constant internal dialogue. The characters repeat their feelings over and over again internally that it becomes annoying.

And the author has her characters—especially the main character—say every single detail they're feeling about their love-life (internally of course). To some, that may not be an issue, but to me, it’s as if the author’s treating me like a fool. It’s as if she’s assuming I won’t be able to understand the emotions she’s so heavily trying to draw out of her characters and their situations unless she literally draws them out for me to read.

But the thing is that the author’s milked the emotions so much that now I have no use for them. I get it, their actions bring up consequences and those consequences affect their emotions that they don’t know what to do with. I get it! Do you really have to repeat the process over and over again, as if I didn’t get it the first few times with the first few characters?

Overall: 6

Strobe Edge is on the border between bad and good for me, leaning more towards good, but unfortunately, not there.

Now, will you enjoy this manga? If you enjoy shoujo tropes, then it’s VERY likely you will. Did I enjoy it? Not really, but I do acknowledge that it’s definitely a decent manga. There are deeper emotions to experience besides girl falls in love with boy, boy already has a girlfriend, yada, yada, yada, other teenage angst.

I actually went and reread the manga to see if my feelings about it had changed over the few months that passed since I finished it. I couldn’t handle it and skipped some (many) chapters, but I still shrugged most of the time and pursed my lips as the author spelled out every emotion possible. (Maybe this is why many people enjoyed it. Everything’s spelled out in front of you so you’re not confused as to what’s going on. But that just wastes time in my opinion. If this were a novel, I’d say there were too many unnecessary details). As you can see, my view of Strobe Edge remains unchanged from then ‘til now.

Again, if you’re into shoujo, give it a chance. You’ll most likely enjoy it. If you’re not into shoujo, the choice is up to you. A warning though: Strobe Edge is 10 volumes long, so you’ll be using up a good amount of time to finish it as a whole.

It’s always the short ones…

Story: 9

I’m a sucker for fantasy, so it’s no surprise that this manga attracted me like a moth to flame. Add in adventure, a contract with a devil, and romance and I’m a total goner. I instantly fell in love with this manga’s storyline even if the trope’s not original. Sure it’s cliché, but what do you really have to lose when it’s only 2 volumes/8 chapters long?

It’s explained in the first chapter why devils offer their hearts to humans in the form of a contract: devils do not feel emotions by themselves, but when their hearts are in a human, ... they feel the human’s emotions as well. In other words, it’s a way to pass time since devils live long lives. However, there are time limits set in those contracts (Lys’s is sixteen years and she’s currently 15) in which the devils must claim their hearts back and if that condition isn’t met by the time limit, there are dire consequences that must be faced.

Art: 10

Beautiful. There’s no other word to describe the artwork. It’s drawn in shoujo fashion (of course) and some people may not enjoy that, but I happen to. The people are attractive, the scenery is attractive, and the clothes are attractive! The “desert fashion” is drawn really well and only adds to the beauty of Lys when she dances and the environment in general.

Characters: 8

The main character, Lys, is a strong individual who knows what she wants—which is to find the devil who gave her his heart so that she can somehow convince him to extend her life for a little longer. Honestly, her actions are understandable. She just wants to live like any normal person. Though she’s shunned by other humans because she accepted the heart of a devil, Lys doesn’t hate the owner of her heart since it was him who allowed her to live in the first place. Yes, she may sound like a typical overly-nice and forgiving shoujo heroine, but I was never bored of her character.

Siva is Lys’s companion and it’s no surprise, the devil who’s the owner of her heart. He’s been traveling with her ever since she was very young (like toddler age). He claims that he protects Lys because she’s the holder of his heart and he cannot allow anyone to harm her, whether human or devil. Siva is typically detached from everyone else but Lys and she’s the only person he shows emotion in front of. He’s very protective of Lys and we as readers know it’s because she has his heart—in more ways than one.

(In replacement of Enjoyment…) Romance: 9

This isn’t a slow romance and I wouldn’t call it fast either. It just happens. The bond between Lys and Siva developed over the years they traveled together and though Lys states that Siva is like a brother or father-figure to her at the beginning, she eventually realizes that her feelings for him go beyond that. After all, Siva was the reason why Lys wanted to live longer in the first place.

However, romance between a devil and human is only doomed to end in tragedy. In fact, there’s a couple who reflect Lys and Siva’s relationship in the story and they show us, the readers, and the protagonists what is bound to happen to them if they fall in love.

Yes, even the romance is cliché, but I believe it’s done well. You can see how much Lys and Siva truly care for each other and how much it pains them to be separated from the other.

Overall: 9

Yes, the approach to this story is clichéd, but in all honesty, I’ve never really read any other stories like this. The only one I can think of at the top of my head is Hana to Akuma (which I also enjoyed). Hanatsukihime has all the right combinations to make me love this manga to death. The only negative is that it’s so short! Two freaking volumes? Really? It’s always the short ones. *sigh* Well, at least everything’s cleared for in the eight measly chapters.

The majority of shoujos consist of teenagers’ experiencing their high school lives so it’s always a breath of fresh air to read a fantasy like Hanatsukihime. Still, there aren’t enough stories like this.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama is my guilty pleasure—specifically, Usui. -- how’s that for a review opening? Too soon?

Story: 8

As many other reviews have already mentioned, the premise of this manga is cliché. I’ll admit that. It is. A “tough” girl actually works at a girly place and *gasp* of course she just HAS to be discovered by the hottest guy at school. She has to keep it a secret, and of course, with secrets, there’s blackmail. There are plenty of cliché situations in this manga but Maid Sama approaches these clichés really well and in ways that kept me interested. I never really rolled my eyes ... or got bored with what was happening.

Art: 9

I happen to like Hiro Fujiwara’s style of drawing. The characters are attractive and are distinguishable from one another. The backgrounds are drawn nicely too and some panels where Usui is giving you a smoldering look gets you squealing most of the time. Scratch that. ALL THE TIME.

Character: 9

Alright, now it’s appropriate to say it: Usui is my guilty pleasure. No matter how Gary Stu he is, no matter how copy and paste he might be, no matter how real guys might scoff at him, Usui Takumi is perfection in the form of a manga character. I’ve read about a thousand characters like Usui, so why? Why is he the epitome of perfection out of all the other guys? I HATE Gary Stus, but I LOVE Usui! The man could be picking his nose and scratching his balls and I’d still swoon for him! SOMEONE ANSWER ME! WHY?!
It’s a mystery. Usui’s a mystery. Mysterious guys are hot. Usui’s hot. Conclusion: Usui Takumi.

…(In the process of picking up my brain pieces and putting them back together)

Alright, let’s move onto the main character: Misaki. Ultimately, Misaki is the reason why I love this manga and she’s probably the only thing that’s not cliché in this whole story (besides her acting like a tsudere occasionally in front of Usui). But that’s what makes this manga so durable. Misaki is what holds it together. What I love about her is that her personality never really changes, but she does indeed get character development.

I’ve read reviews where people are hating on Misaki for being a man-hater and honestly, her attitude sort of turned me off from reading as well. But I gave it a chance because at least she wasn’t a typical stupid shoujo heroine. And boy am I glad I continued. Misaki gradually changes for the better, but she still maintains her tough and hardworking personality. And the entrance of THE PERFECTION OF USUI doesn’t turn her into a fumbling, bumbling, constantly-blushing idiot! In practically every cliché shoujo, the heroine automatically becomes someone entirely different in the presence of the hot guy, but Misaki keeps her composure and only loses it when Usui does the smolder, and who wouldn’t?

Misaki’s a girl, she’s human too y’know.

But maybe this answers my question as to why I love Usui’s character—probably because he has Misaki as his partner and they bring out the best in each other.

As for the other characters in this manga, a few of them are for comic relief (idiot trio pops to mind), but I’m never bored when they appear so I appreciate their presence.

(In replacement of Enjoyment…) Romance: 9

The interactions between Misaki and Usui are surprisingly not cheesy. I don’t really remember cringing, but I definitely remember squealing and fanning myself. I’m a fan girl, what’d you expect? Anyway, speaking of fan, there’s a good amount of fan service in Maid-sama. And what I mean by fan service isn’t ass and tits, but Usui and Misaki playing the pocky game and other “that shouldn’t be sexy, but it is” moments.

Misaki and Usui not only make a sexy couple, but a badass couple as well. The two of them can hold their own individually, but when they’re together, let’s just say anyone who messes with them better watch out for any glass shards.

And though I mentioned that Misaki sometimes acted like a tsundere, it’s never extreme and it doesn’t happen so often that it becomes annoying. She also eventually begins to accept her feelings for Usui, which in this case, is something I can respect of Misaki, considering she never previously cared about romance and was a man-hater. And no this doesn’t happen in a matter of chapters. The romance actually takes its time to develop, which I enjoyed—especially when you could see the sparks igniting between them and their chemistry working together.

I know 100% that if Misaki had been replaced by a meek shoujo heroine who wasn’t as unaffected by Usui, I would’ve probably dropped the series long ago and Usui wouldn’t my guilty pleasure. The fact that Misaki is slightly unaffected by his charms only adds to the romance and their development.

I wouldn’t call this a slow romance, but it is paced appropriately.

Overall: 9

In the end, Kaichou wa Maid-sama is full of clichés, but it’s as if Fujiwara knew our limits and backed off just before it got too annoying. How she does it, I don’t know, but she’s good at it. Maid-sama (and Usui) to this day remains a guilty pleasure of mine, full of its clichés and perfection. And I love it.

Story: 4

What the synopsis on MAL doesn’t tell you is how these two “hot” boys fall into her lap—she eats the crystal pearl designed to be the retrieval item needed to pass their magic exam. As you can already tell, Nina isn’t exactly the brightest girl. The rest of the manga involves Nina being constantly saved by her two potential love interests and being a damsel in distress. I don’t know what the point of having two of them there was when I already knew which one she would end up with when I finished the first volume. Scratch that, I know the answer: to ... fuel every preteen’s dream of having two hot guys pining over you.

Art: 7

It’s shoujo. Nothing special. At least each character is distinguishable from each other—something a lot of shoujo fail at. However, I will praise Michiyo Kikuta on her color schemes. The covers are really colorful and I find myself able to just stare at the back covers of the volumes for a while, appreciating the images colored in, especially volume 6. I have a feeling if the mangaka took that story approach, it’d be a little more interesting.

Character: 5

The characters weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. But they’re still bad. Nina’s the typical Mary Sue who acts as the damsel in distress (though Michiyo tries to change her image in the later volumes, she’s still not a very likeable character).

Zero’s the hotheaded guy and Ichi’s the calm one. Yeah, the two typical potential love interests in most cliché shoujo manga. At least Michiyo gave those two a back story, and I’ll admit that I found their back stories interesting. She also gives a little back story to the other characters (3, 4, 5, 6).

And though the character names are a little gimmicky, I still find them cute. I was also more interested in Sun and Forte than the main trio.

(In replacement of Enjoyment…) Romance: 3

As I mentioned above, I already knew which of the two, Zero or Ichi, Nina would end up with when I finished the first volume. Of course I’m not going to tell you which one, but if you just look at the signs properly and think about the clichés of shoujo manga (and romance in general), then I’m sure you’d easily figure it out too.

Now, is the romance done well? Meh. It’s full of clichés. Nina falls, guy catches her. Nina cries, guy comforts her. Zero flirts with Nina, she blushes. Ichi flirts with Nina, she blushes. She’s caught in compromising situations that lead to jealousy, misunderstanding, and more internal conflict. She thinks typical stuff like “Do I like him? Why is my heart beating so much? Maybe I like him? But I like the other guy too! Oh no, which one do I like more?”

Oh, the troubles of a teenage girl’s heart.

Again, I found myself more interested in the romance between Sun and Forte.

Overall: 4

Some of you guys may be thinking I’m being harsh on Mamotte! Lollipop because it’s a kid’s manga (for a kid’s manga, there’s an awful lot of friggin fan-service), but that’s not true. I freaking love Sugar Sugar Rune, Kodocha, and Gakuen Alice—and all the main characters of those manga are YOUNGER than those of this manga!

Mamotte! Lollipop is just full of clichés and amateurish story-telling. This is proved by the second half of this series where another arc takes place after the Magic Exam is over. Seriously, it just popped out of nowhere and is there to add a big BANG to the series and have you thinking, “Ooo, big battle where Nina can show that she’s actually a very capable heroine and not a whining little girl.” Seriously, it’s just shoved in there.

And of course, following typical shoujo plot, the ending is tied into a neat and tidy bow. But did you know there’s a sequel?

I freaking hate it when they over-milk a manga. Just end it already. It’s not that great enough to demand a sequel for anyway.

I knew the moment I finished this series that everyone else would not love it as much as I do (isn’t that obvious from the other reviews?)

Story: 8

What’s the story to this book you ask? Well, just read the synopsis up there and there you go. That’s right. It’s the adventures of Eimi as she goes through her life in the dorms. But I will warn you ahead, the synopsis is a little misleading. More on that later. Now, every story has a goal. What’s this manga’s goal? Really, it’s just Eimi living in the female dorms of her school. That’s it. They're pretty episodic. ... But the adventures are hilarious and I did find myself entertained by them—such as the first “adventure” of this series: Eimi’s initiation into the dormitory life…which is how her “romantic adventures” begin.

Art: 7

It’s decent, but there are times when it feels empty. There’s not much shading going on and the backgrounds are there, but again with that empty feeling of “there could’ve been more details”.

Character: 8

Eimi’s the gluttonous, dense, airheaded girl. Is she a Mary Sue? I don’t believe so. Why? Because she’s an idiot. Mary Sues like to believe they’re smart, but Eimi’s just a plain idiot who attracts you to her idiocy. She’s a lovable idiot. I usually don’t like stupid characters, but for some reason, I like Eimi. Her idiotic character is done well, and I’m not being sarcastic here.

Eimi’s surrounded by her fellow dorm people, and the girls are hilarious. You won’t find any typical shoujo girls here. When we run out of hot water in the dorm, you best believe we’re throwing a freaking riot up in here!

Now, who exactly is Eimi’s love interest? He’s the beast spoken about in the title: Wanichin (that’s actually Eimi’s nickname for him and that’s how I remember him. See? She just pulls you into her idiocy). Wanichin is, I guess you can say, the bad boy. He smokes, has a rocking body, sneaks out of the boys’ dorm late at night, breaks the dorm rules of having a part-time job, and he dates older women. He might not seem likeable at first, but he’s surprisingly not a jerk and a mature guy. His maturity helps to balance out Eimi’s childishness, which brings me to my next point…

(In replacement of Enjoyment…) Romance: 9

Now here’s where the story really shines for me.

Remember how I said the synopsis of Bijo ha Yajuu misleads the readers? I quote, “exciting romantic adventures”. They got the exciting part down (sort of) along with the adventures. But the word romantic can be strewn about differently depending on the reader. Romantic doesn’t necessarily mean romantic love, but romantic passion, like something you’re passionate about. Yet, even that doesn’t fully cover the “romantic” aspect of Bijo ha Yajuu because this series is a pretty light and fluffy manga. The only person who carries something heavy on their shoulders is Wanichin (and that should be obvious since something had to have happened to him to make him go bad boy mode).

So how’s the romance you ask? I’m sorry to tell you that you may be disappointed. The romance is subtle but it’s not simply implied. It’s definitely there, but to some readers, it won’t be enough because (SPOILER ALERT?)

…

They never actually say “I love you” out loud. But there were plenty of other romantic things that happened in the manga for it to be considered romance and the two of them are an item as well. Believe me, they are. Though some people don’t like it when it’s not bluntly stated aloud for the readers, I believe Tomo Matsumoto does the romance well in this manga. The romance in here is way more romantic than most shoujo I’ve read because you can actually see the bond forming between Eimi and Wanichin through their interactions together.

Also, there’s one scene in the manga—which I won’t spoil and tell you what exactly happened—that involves a yellow wallet and it’s BY FAR one of the most romantic things I’ve read in manga ever. To me, that scene was way more romantic than typical clichéd scenes where a guy and a girl declare their undying love for each other and finally kiss after chapters and chapters of playing hard-tsudere-to-get because the yellow wallet held more meaning to it and the context that it’s given in just makes you feel giddy and declare, “Yup. This is romance alright.” There’s also some dialogue after that scene that just made me outright fangirl scream. You know? “Kya~!”

Of course there’s a little struggle between their relationship since Wanichin’s actually already in one with an older woman and of course, someone like Eimi is bound to attract the attention of some other guy *hint hint.

Overall: 8

I can proudly say I thoroughly enjoyed this manga. There’s humor and it’s light and fluffy most of the time. Of course, this is a slow romance, and the romance builds up towards the end. The rest of the manga are Eimi’s adventures in her dorm life and there are also some side stories thrown in there involving Eimi’s friends (and their romantic adventures) and Wanichin’s past.

Now, will you enjoy this manga? Maybe. Will you think like me, “This is one of the most memorable manga I’ve ever read!”? Most likely no. But it doesn’t hurt to give it a try. Besides, this manga’s only 5 volumes long.

As a fan, I wished there could’ve been more, but I’ve grown to become accustomed to it and accept the fact that there will be no more Eimi and Wanichin…because I’m mature like that.

…*sobs.

Alright, here’s the issue with Time Stranger Kyoko: it’s too short. It’s simple really, but this “it’s too short” issue brings up more issues.

First, let me bring your attention to the cover used on MAL. You see that beautiful, colorful image that features those 12 characters? Yeah? Well, guess what? You won’t know shite about them at all except for the three in the center—Kyoko and her two knights—and even then, barely. You want to know the background about that elf girl? Too bad, you won’t. You see that Jeanne lookalike? There’s no story to her, sorry. And yeah, all those hot guys there? You’ll ... barely even remember their names by the end of this three-volume series.

Here’s the conclusion I came up with, and hopefully this will help you understand why this series had potential, but utterly fell flat:

It’s like Arina Tanemura wanted to make something big like Fushigi Yugi, but either decided she was too lazy to make twelve different and interesting background stories for each character and just wanted to get to the good bits of a large cast duking out a “war” OR her publisher decided to cut her off short because they realized it couldn’t compete with Fushigi Yugi and would be seen as just an imitation. I want to believe it’s the latter since I’m a fan of Arina (her older works at least) but we will never know.

Honestly, I was looking forward to this series. I didn’t particularly like Fushigi Yugi, but I loved the idea of a fantasy world where the main character has to go and “collect” her warriors to fight for her. I’m sure any of you with the same interest was disappointed—and confused—to hear that Time Stranger Kyoko only had 3 volumes to it. And again, the issue is brought up: it’s too short.

I will say that it was a nice short read. If you’re looking for something quick and easy to digest, in exchange for bad characterization, this is the series for you. But just acknowledge the fact that it could’ve been something even bigger and better.

Whatever happened to Time Stranger Kyoko to make it this way…it’s unfortunate that it happened.

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Look, Log Horizon is a great anime. I cannot add any more to what has already been said by those who are praising it, because honestly, I’d do the same. But what needs to be said has already been said. So what the hell am I here for? To rant about one aspect (call me crazy and overdramatic) that needs to be voiced.

*Inhale*

*BEEP* romance! *BEEP* it right in the *BOOP*!

How many times have I watched an anime where they shoehorned a piece of shite relationship they call “romance” and expect me to nod my head and let it ... pass on through? No! I’m sick of it! I’m sick of people adding romance into an anime when it’s not needed! What the hell is the point of adding romance into Log Horizon? Tell me! Is the writer catering to the female audience or something? Or do guys actually enjoy reading about love triangles too? Because I sure as hell am sick of it! If I wanted to watch romance, I’d go watch a damn shoujo or something labeled as “romance”.

But when romance is added into my shounen, I get sick of it!

Look, maybe I’m making the wrong impression here. I don’t mind romance. I mind horribly done romance. And I’m not talking about Shiroe and Akatsuki (even though I’m also sick of the loli-fetish but that’s another rant for another day). By the way, if you haven't noticed, I'm getting sick of a lot of things these days.

WARNING! THIS IS WHERE THE SPOILER IS! IT’S ABOUT THE ROMANCE IN LOG HORIZON (OBVIOUSLY) SO IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT SHITE, THEN READ ON IF YOU MUST!

What the hell was the point of having Minori fall for Shiroe? Huh? Someone tell me! Oooo, now there’s tension between Minori, Akatsuki, and Shiroe! How interesting!

NO! That shite was boring as hell and completely unnecessary! Seriously? Shiroe was a teacher figure to Minori, a big brother figure. But no, she ends up falling for him? Wha? Why? How? But most of all WHY? The creator(s) better have a damn good reason for having this stupid love triangle pop out of nowhere from Log Horizon’s ass!

Some of you may say I’m making a big deal out of this, but believe me, these little "details" matter too. Of course, I will give Log Horizon 2 a chance once it’s finished. But I swear, if that *BEEP*ing love triangle is shoved into my face again, I’m going to go super saiyan and choke whoever thought it was a good idea to add a love triangle into this series in the first place!