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This manga had *so much potential* for me. The main characters are interesting with struggles that are much more mature than you'll find in most shoujo. While this is a romance, the themes are much more centered on family and finding a sense of belonging. Being an adopted child myself, I found myself really relating to Yukimi's feelings and her desperate need for acceptance. The dynamics and parallels between several relationships were very well crafted.

Unfortunately, the plot suffered from overuse of cheap cliches. Characters coincidentally running into each other at the perfect moment, accidentally overhearing conversations, a shallow rival love interest ... that pops up out of nowhere and quickly becomes irrelevant, the magical child who innocently says whatever the adult characters need to hear at any given moment.. these are all staples of shoujo and drama that I've become accustomed to and even enjoy most of the time. However, their use here felt rote and so clunky that it pulled me out of the story.. frequently.

It could have used some polishing is all I'm saying, but I still enjoyed it and think it's worth a read for anyone who wants to read about complex characters in a mediocre plot with *stunning* themes.

Since there hasn't been a review yet, I'll do it, avoiding spoilers. First of all, the romance is minimal, so if you're looking for a cliche shoujo romance, this isn't really it. It's a SOL story about self-discovery more than anything. And no high school characters.


This series had a lot of great potential, but I don't think it had the opportunity to be everything it could have been. You can tell that the characters have a lot more to offer. All of them have serious issues that need to be addressed, and it would have been very interesting to see ... them played off of each other more, but we barely got to scratch the surface with them. Because the ending was so rushed, some subplots ended up feeling completely useless, and most characters' feelings and motivations were left ambiguous. I guess there's some poetry in that because it's a pretty realistic story, and things don't always get a satisfactory explanation in real life, but it still left me feeling dissatisfied and imagining all the things that could have been.


Don't mistake this for a negative review, though. I found the major characters very sympathetic, and Shouko is a very relatable protagonist for a lot of young women out of high school. I'm glad I read it, and I recommend this to anyone who wants a shoujo "romance" that isn't all sparkly backgrounds and doki doki silliness.

Hana yori Dango is a cautionary tale of what happens when a manga is allowed to live for too long. After finishing it, I'm just left feeling depressed. Not because the story was especially moving, but because it had a lot of potential that was ultimately wasted. I got the feeling that Kamio had a fairly good vision of what the manga should be in the beginning, but over the years that intent got lost.

First of all, the manga was being serialized for over a decade, yet the story itself took place over the course of about a year. I think ... that was a HUGE mistake. Far too many things happened (approximately 37 volumes worth of things, actually) for that sort of timeline. In the beginning, there were plotlines about pagers, and by the end of the series everyone had a cell phone. It would have been a lot better if Kamio had just bit the bullet, had everyone graduate from high school, and continued to follow their development into college and the working world. There was no good reason NOT to do that since their school had a college campus they could have all gone to together.

The overall tone of the story did a huge 180 over time, too, and not really in a good way. In the beginning, it seemed like things would get pretty dark. There was really awful bullying, abuse, attempted rape (multiple times), psychotic breaks... but eventually it just turned into typical shoujo fluff with a lot of arcs that served no purpose to the characters other than to prolong the story.

The characters didn't get as much development as you'd expect from such a long running series, either. The main characters were mostly static. I can't even count Domyouji's "development" because it really only happened in the first half of the series. The side characters got a few VERY minor subplots, but never changed much from beginning to end and were primarily used to further the main characters' story. Some characters just ended up disappearing, never to be seen again, with no explanation as to where they went. Very few of the characters' interactions felt natural. Most of them were completely awful to each other, yet somehow... for some reason... that's not totally explained... they all become besties 4 lyfe.

The art, though. The art. The art was probably the best part for me, and the only thing that kept me reading until the very end. Not that it's especially lovely, but there was just such a BIG change over time. I wouldn't necessarily say it improved--I really liked the 90s art style in the beginning, and it certainly aged better than some other manga from the same era--but it definitely became more clean and modern. It was fascinating to see.

In the end, I'd still recommend it to anyone who's interested in shoujo. Despite its shortcomings, it's still one of the longest and most well known shoujo manga series out there, and it helps set the stage for what more modern shoujo is like. It deserves respect for that, at least.

So split on this. On the one hand, there were some super adorable moments that really made me WANT to love it. And, I'm not gonna lie, I shed a few tears here and there. But... let's be honest, it's a romance between a girl and her non-biological father. It's basically a how-to guide for child abuse and grooming. I cannot, in good conscience, ignore that big fat elephant.

Look, there are some pretty creeptastic pairings in anime and manga, and it's just par for the course to some degree. You've got age gaps that are treated like ... nothing special, relationships between students and teachers, even incest is sometimes treated like something romantic. Okay, fine. But you can't combine all of those things into one. That's just too much. And while Hana might be "14" through the majority of the story, she looks, acts, and is treated like she's 7. It's just fucking wrong and not okay.

Okay, I guess I've gotten that off my chest. Now I can admit that I actually enjoyed reading it despite myself. If you took the romance out, it'd be a super sweet story about a little girl helping a really evil guy find his nice side. That's not so bad, and that's what I ended up pretending it was. The characters--especially the supporting characters--lacked much depth and didn't grow a hell of a lot, but they were still super lovable. Hana especially was just... ugh, I love her, the poor thing. Not a great heroine by any means, but a sweet character that made me smile a lot. Toni, too, the poor guy. Basically, I love all the abuse victims in this story. Because that's what they are. I want to save them from the wretched fate that is Vivi.

Considering how hit-or-miss (heavy on the "miss") reverse harems can be, I went into this one with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised at how charming the story and characters turned out to be.

>Story-------------------8

I think what makes Barajou no Kiss work so well is that it never really takes itself too seriously. In that sense, it kind of reminded me of Ouran High School Host Club. Not because the plots are in any way similar--they're definitely worlds apart despite being reverse harems--but because it starts out as a pretty solid comedy and gradually works in the drama and romance as the ... story progresses without ever losing the funny moments. That way you never really get overloaded with a bunch of heavy feelings from characters you're not even attached to yet.

Unfortunately, the ending did feel a little rushed and anticlimactic to me, and left a lot of questions unanswered. I think it could have benefited from an extra chapter or two explaining exactly who "The Society" was and how the power structure within it came to be. And how exactly all the "bonding" stuff worked because that got pretty confusing near the end.

>Art---------------------10

Very shoujo, very pretty. Details where necessary, but not so many that your eyes get confused. Character designs were all distinct, so I never questioned who I was looking at. The color pages were absolutely stunning. I actually enjoyed looking at the extra pages and cover art, which is very rare for me.

>Character-------------8

I thought the character development was pretty interesting. Normally you get Introduction>Backstory>Growth, but here it's all kind of mixed in together. You learn new things about the characters' pasts right up until the last chapter, but you get to see them grow and change before you even really get to know who they are. It was neat, and ended up being a lot less shallow than I initially thought. As another reviewer pointed out, the characters aren't cliche-free, but the cliches are done well in my opinion.

However, as is often the case with harems, some characters are prioritized over others. I think the mangaka did a very good job playing that balancing act between the main cast members, but inevitably some will just get more development and page time. If you happen to really like one of the less fortunate characters, you might be a little disappointed.

I have mixed feelings about the heroine. On the one hand, she spends a majority of the story as just a damsel and pointing out how stupid she is. On the other hand, she doesn't ACT helpless, and actually has a pretty fiery personality. She doesn't really get tied down by the romance, either, which is a superhuman feat when you're surrounded by superhuman beauties. Overall, she's not a BAD heroine, but I wouldn't call her GREAT, either. She's acceptable. Good, maybe. And funny.

>Enjoyment------9

Once I got through a few chapters, I couldn't put it down again until I was finished. The last few chapters were a little bit of a chore, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride up to that point. Since I don't normally get that into reverse harems, I think anyone who enjoys them would absolutely LOVE it. Also highly recommend to fans of puns and popculture references.

Is it over yet? Is it over yet? IS IT OVER YET?!?! Jesus Christ, I've had to put it on (most likely permanent) hold because I just can't tolerate how long it's being drug out. It's been obvious how everything is going to turn out for AGES now and there are still SO MANY PAGES LEFT. And now there's another "rival"? Ugh. No. I can't. I want to on principle, since I started it, but I can't.

I guess I should say that I totally misunderstood what kind of manga this was. If you're a ... fan of sweet romances, this ain't it. It's smut. Not extremely explicit smut, but smut nonetheless. Considering these are middle school characters and I'm an adult, it's been... a very uncomfortable experience for me. I'm really confused about who the audience is supposed to be, here. Nevermind, I know the answer to that. Anyway. Creepy. Even creepier still was the thing with the elementary school teacher. Really? I can't. I feel like I'm on a list now. I don't even want to write a review, but people need to be warned.

I'll try my best to avoid !!SPOILERS!!, but it'll be impossible to explain my complaints without including a few. You've been warned.

I had a hard time with this one because there are some really awesome moments, but the execution felt somehow clumsy. I got the impression that the mangaka started out with some very specific things that would happen, but struggled to fill in the blanks along the way. For example, the Big Twist at the end is foreshadowed very early in the story--almost immediately--but random things like being able to have two spouses (something you'd think would be an important detail ... in a romantic fantasy story) wasn't even mentioned until the chapter in which it happened. The characters' motivations weren't entirely clear at times, either, so sometimes it felt like "We're just going to do this totally nonsensical thing X because otherwise we won't be able to get to important plot point Y". There also seemed to be some potential side plots that were just... dropped... for no good reason. At one point in the story the main group is forced to take another person along with them, and it seems to be a big deal, but that character ends up fading completely into the background with only a few token appearances after that. What? Why? And the initial Big Conflict that really gets the story going is also just... dropped... at some point without any real explanation.

Also, not gonna lie, the ending flat out pissed me off. The last few pages made it out to be a happy ending, but... it felt more like a tragedy to me, so the forced "everything worked out okay" was like a huge slap in the face to my favorite (slightly twisted) character.

I don't know... by the time I got to the end, when I looked back at the beginning, I was just kind of like, "Uh... how did we even get to this point?"

But, with all that still being the case, the good parts still outweighed the bad for me. Even though the story wasn't executed as gracefully as it could have been, it was still interesting and kept me reading until the (enraging) end. The main (2, not 3, because fuck Loki apparently) characters had some good growth. The clothing designs were really pretty, and were almost good enough to make up for the mullets. Something something... this concludes the review. Meh.

First of all, Issho ni Neyou yo gets big points for originality. I can honestly say I've never come across a protagonist with a problem like Usami Ichiko's. It's pretty bizarre, but also pretty interesting. And, certainly, the same could be said of Kohaku's entire character.

That said, while reading this, I spent a lot of time sitting there with a giant question mark over my head. There were times when I had a hard time catching on to the tone of the scenes I was reading, understanding what was happening in the plot, and (a big pet peeve of mine) ... knowing who was speaking. Needless to say, it was pretty frustrating. I'm not sure if it's because I got ahold of a bad translation, if I'm accustomed to a less subtle style of storytelling, or if the characters are just so strange that they're supposed to confuse the reader. Maybe all of the above. From what I understand, the mangaka had to go on hiatus while it was still being published, so that might also have something to do with the oddly disjointed story progression.

Despite the confusion, though, I still enjoyed it... for reasons that I still can't entirely pin down. The characters are very endearing and unique, for sure, and there are a lot of very funny and touching moments. I'm a sucker for toddlers and eccentric people, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. The art is lovely, if a bit odd at times. Considering how short it is, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for something a little different.

Yona is a BADASS! It's not often I come across a female protagonist that I LOVE, so when it happens, I get super excited. And I'm SUPER EXCITED about Akatsuki no Yona. Before I go off on that, though, I want to point out that this is not your typical reverse harem. The romantic aspect of the story, while certainly present, is often cast to the side in favor of... you know... things that actually matter when you're living in a world struck with war, famine, and disease. It's really awesome, and I highly recommend this series to everyone, especially ... young women.

Okay, now I get to talk about Yona. Yonaaaaaa! The thing I love most about her is that, despite the heavy supernatural and fantasy elements in the story, her development feels so real. In the beginning, she's just a spoiled princess whose only concerns in life are her hair and her childhood crush. However, once she witnesses the death of her father and is driven from her home, her character just flourishes. At first she seems completely broken, as you would expect from a pampered girl. She experiences hunger, pain, betrayal, and hopelessness for the first time in her life, but from that she develops a strong urge to survive. She also learns to really appreciate the warmth of family and friendship that she'd always taken for granted in her sheltered life. As she travels around her country in search of the dragons, she sees the reality of her kingdom, which is totally at odds with the idealistic and peaceful vision of her father. Seeing more and more suffering, her will to survive slowly evolves into a will to see her people survive, and she works hard to make it happen to the best of her ability while living as a fugitive.

And here's the best part about Yona, the thing that really gets me fired up about her character. Despite her physical weakness (an inevitability with her upbringing, as her father despised violence), and despite her having numerous incredible warriors at her side, she works damn HARD not to be a damsel. And when I say she "works hard", I don't mean that she continuously whines about wanting to help more without actually doing anything, nor do I mean she develops some mystical powers out of nowhere, nor do I mean that she suddenly becomes an incredible warrior overnight. She trains rigorously with a sword and bow, and we get to see her labor reflected in her calloused hands and bruised body throughout the series. She REALLY works hard and ACTUALLY improves over time.

As for the other characters, they're all really well developed. Yona's companions are a bit "typed" at first glance, but they're far from flat. The main cast consists of Yona, our lovely, wonderful, bestest heroine; her childhood friend, Hak, who is also the leader of the Wind tribe and a renowned fighter; Yun, the self-proclaimed genius bishounen; and the four dragon warriors that Yona seeks out during the first few story arcs. The main group gets quite large by about 50 chapters in, but every character is distinct, they all develop unique relationships with one another, and they all have their own demons that they have to grapple with as they grow.

It's not just the main cast that shines, though. By the time I got to the most recent chapters, I found myself caring deeply about everyone, even the "villains" and minor characters. I really love how your perspective of the characters in each arc shift as you start to see new sides of people that you first thought were obviously "good" or "bad". Really, being able to create such dynamic and relateable characters for minor roles is, imo, a huge testament to Mizuho Kusanagi's incredible storytelling ability.

The story itself has a very "epic" quality to it. The pacing is pretty slow at times, especially in the beginning. The first few chapters, before things start to take a supernatural turn, feel like an entirely different story. But I think the slower pace is really a very good thing, as it allows plotlines to develop more naturally instead of feeling forced. It's hard to pin down a central theme for the story, both because it's still ongoing and because soooooo many different things are explored. There's really something for everyone, whether you're a fan of action, adventure, fantasy, romance, coming-of-age, or you just want something fresh to fall in love with.

>Story-------------------------10

>Art-----------------------------9

>Characters------------------10

>Enjoyment-----------------10

>Overall----------------------10

How this has gotten any positive reviews is completely beyond me. I honestly don't even know where to start in describing how terrible this was. I don't think I have the words... Wait, no, I'll start with the fact that it's essentially softcore rape porn for the first 5 chapters. Then I'll point out that the "heroine" of this story is an utterly dimwitted waste of ink. Absolutely one of the worst protagonists I've come across, and that's really saying something. She's not even the charming kind of stupid that is so common in shoujo. She's sexually assaulted countless ... times in the first few chapters, yet she's perfectly peppy just moments afterward when someone feeds her lunch. She's locked away in a tower with a rapist, but she brushes it off as something she can just deal with later. The other characters are just as bad or worse. The main love interest is a kidnapper and rapist, yet somehow our "heroine" is still inexplicably drawn to him and eventually falls madly in love. The side characters are... god, I don't even know. I don't even know. I really just don't even know how this was published. The "jokes" aren't funny, the characters are completely unrelateable to anyone with a functioning brain, the plot is completely forced and not the least bit interesting... At first I wanted to think it was just some kind of satire that was completely flying over my head, but after skimming through to the end, I'm pretty sure it's just really, really, REALLY bad. BAD. Terrible. Atrocious. The only reason I'm not giving it a 1 is because the art is good, but not astounding or unique enough to earn it any more points.

And shame on anyone who calls this twisted horror story "cute".