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[pertaining to the main story:Hotarubi no Mori e]

This is the most beautiful heartbreak I've ever read. Before going into detail, I want to warn the readers about some [spoilers] in this review. First of all, if you want to take a break from too much mushy shoujo mangas, I would recommend this. But I don't recommend it for the faint hearted.

So I was just chilling one day, lurking the myanimelist, when all of a sudden I came across this manga. I was like "oh so cool. I bet they're going to put a cliche at the end where she still ... gets to touch him anyway" Me---being a tragedy hater---was caught off guard. Let me tell you, I had 5 sleepless nights trying to get over this manga! It was just so sad! Everytime I saw the title, the picture, I still feel really sorry for Hotaru.

The story was just so beautiful--yet painful. We go around our lives, having wonderful and sad time---then things happen, and those experiences turn into memories. Hotarubi sent a powerful message that we must treasure our memories--even though it hurts ti remember them, they are a part of ourselves.


rant: BUT IT'S JUST TOOOO SaDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD ;_; HOTARU MAY MOVE ON, BUT I CAN'T!!!! ;_; pooor Hotaruuu



Yeah it's really sad. I like it. but I hate tragedies.

Do not be fooled, my fellow Shoujo lovers--this is a refreshing manga.

The theme of "change", "love", and "friendship" have been the cornerstone for shoujo manga. In actuality, it's been repeated for so many times that the essence and beauty has lost its click. Things become cliche and repetitive, that it sends me to a rampage. Although this manga holds these overused themes, it stands out for me.

One mistake a person could make is judging a manga before they could thoroughly understand it. Let's say you've only read three chapters of it; will you judge it then? Neglecting the fact that the characters and the ... story can develop, you may miss the chance of reading a heart wrenching and emotionally moving manga.

Don't get me wrong, the plot is a generic shoujo manga. A girl who was bullied in the past wants to fit in, so she completely changes herself as a person--but then she finds out that the change that she has obtained never brought her true happiness or satisfaction. Then a boy comes in and shoves some sense into her brain...story continues and they find out that they depend on each other.blablabla they make friends. What makes this manga stands out is how it approaches these situations differently.

The author makes a point on how there is no meaning in a person's life if they don't treasure the relationship with another human being. This opens a door to AMAZING character development, and it really makes a person feel personally connected with each character. The repetitive idea in this manga is "change", the characters want to change, but the great thing is that, they were able to change because they had friends that helped them do so.


I think this manga brings a new breathe of fresh air to overused themes. The romance is cute, the theme is wonderfully established, and the art is awesome. Oh gosh, if you just want a good read. Read this. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a masterpiece, but for sure this is a really good manga. :)

This is a beautiful story. Although there are many stories out there that have a similar theme, I think this one has its own uniqueness and beauty. I'm not a big fan of webtoons/manwha, because I've been growing up reading too much manga. Up until at this point, when I read western comics I still get confused reading from left to right. But I have to say, webtoons are more convenient to read since you just scroll down (ignoring the occasional left to right reading). Even though I find it inconvenient reading this sort of thing; it's a sacrifice I have to make, because the ... story is just so darn good.

One of my biggest pet peeve when it comes to manga (call me shallow),is the art. I just can't stand reading manga with bad art (or messy art). If I was to criticize this webtoon, I would pick the art. Throughout the story, the characters are drawn in chibi form most of the time, which was annoying for me at first. But then I realized, during crucial events in the story--the art would change. At that point I understood what the Manwhaga was trying to do. I looked beyond the art, because it served a role in influencing the meaning of the story.

The main theme in this story is finding happiness in the relationship each human being has with one another. I praise this webtoon for sharing such strong human emotions--it brought me to tears. This is where the art comes in; in simple moments where the characters are happy, the manwhaga draws them in chibi form; it conveys the message of how in our everyday lives we can find simple and little things to make us happy. But moments in the story where it involves amazing emotions, the art changes into a more serious version. I thought that was true for all mangas/manwhas/webtoons, but in the case of this webtoon it was special.

Seriously, this is a beautiful story. It talks about how everyone how human relationships are important; and the beauty of how we all can depend on each other. Although the drawing lacks detail, the story fills in the gaps.

simple, beautiful

To be honest, I absolutely hate this manga.

It was stale--it was stupid--it didn't make sense at all

If you're a shallow person who likes reading about stupid girl who gets molested, then read this.

[spoiler alert]
I absolutely despise this manga. What the heck was the mangaka thinking? Oh my gosh, face palm every single time. The main character was supposed to be, 'admirable' since she goes around forgiving THE PEOPLE WHO ALMOST GANG RAPED HER. What the heck? that makes no sense at all! It's so frustrating. The main character all through out sounded the same to me. It seemed so unrealistic---gah. I just freaking hate this ... manga. What kind of girl let's herself get molested, and then she falls in love with the guy who molested her. dude,wtfudge.

Oh gosh I hate this manga so much I can't even academically criticize it.

feel free to read it if you want to be annoyed for the rest of your life.

First of all, I don't understand why this manga is so underrated. I've read several reviews for this manga and most of them were saying that "something is lacking" and "could've been better". They even compared it to other shoujo mangas that have similar plots, and NONE of them were even as good! The mangas that those reviewers suggested were the predictable and fast-paced mushy lovey-dovey stories. It was irritating to the extent that I stopped reading after 4 chapters.

The story line may seem like "psh-puhleas" kinda thing, but it's not. Although the story isn't very original (since there are other mangas with ... story lines of protagonist girls becoming a deity), the important thing about this manga is that the mangaka doesn't rush the 'romance', it's pure genius in my opinion, 'cause it's got me thinking if Tamaome really likes Nanami, because their relationship is 'Master and Servant'. It's really hard to understand the feelings of the characters (except for nanami) because they all seem attached to Nanami because of her compassion as a master, not as a girl or as a woman. That is the genius in this manga--the readers get sucked in with the idea that the followers don't 'love' or 'like' her, they respect and want to protect her, because they love her as a 'master'.

That's the illusion the mangaka is creating, but slowly, we realize the feelings of the characters in a BELIEVABLE way. Like for example, in a usual shoujo mangas, the most predictable thing a protagonisits would say is "I don't know if i love her--is this love---do I really like him---yadayada" , but in kamisama, none of the characters themselves realize their feelings. Even the readers (me) would think that their relationship is confusing.


For me the good points of this manga (including the art and etc.), is that the 'romance' is quite unpredictable that it kept me up late ate night and I couldn't sleep. And you will surely look forward to seeing Nanami grow as a god(ess).

story-10
art-9
character-10
enjoyment-10
overall-10

***One thing that bothers me is that the art gets weird sometimes, but that's just me.


MUST READ!!!!