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This was a bizarre manga.

Two things really stick out about this manga and earn it a solid 3/10: the storyline (that ending, UGH!), and the themes/characters.

From the very beginning, the pacing of the story was just...off. Scene changes are very unclear, and chapters end very abruptly. More than that, the storyline was just...so random and difficult to follow. I just spent a lot of time wondering WHY anything was happening. The manga indulged in some cliches and completely skipped over obvious ones. Characters appeared and disappeared at will. There were SO many loose ends that were never addressed. Like, what the heck happened ... to Julie's sister? And on that note, what the heck happened to Julie? There was literally NO ENDING. I just felt like I was being dragged kicking and screaming in a pointlessly odd confusing direction through the plot.

And, ah. The characters. Ryan represents just about everything I hate in shoujo manga. He's cruel, possessive, disrespectful, and treats the main girl character totally like an object. He gets nicer, but his abusive behavior doesn't get addressed. He slaps her, whines about how she doesn't understand him...he cuts off her hair and sticks it on a teddybear. Now, I don't know about you, but I would be FREAKED OUT by that. Nope; she's just touched. And I'd like to clarify that he's more than just physically abusive when he's still "coming to terms with his feelings". Even when he's "nice", he continues to treat her like an object.

And, boy. Those "plot twists" in the last two or three chapters...real gems there. I mean, characters that were barely introduced COMPLETELY changed their tune. Ryan's life is pretty much in the toilet, and I'm wondering if he's going to turn into a serial killer. Julie is potentially in danger. I have NO IDEA what Ryan is thinking, and Lance is sort of on the way to the rescue...and then BAM. Nostalgic recollection to the bizarre hook of the series. That's IT.

Oh, and it's not terribly important, but the third brother? He's twelve years old, and a sixteen year old girl is after him. That's just...gross. And he's SO IMMATURE and CRUEL about it. "I hate you! Don't ever come near me again!" And tears are STREAMING down her face instantly...just...wow. Gross. Creepy. I don't care about a four year age difference, I really don't. It just depends on how old you are. It's gross for a four year old to like a baby. It's gross for a sixteen year old to like a twelve year old. Twenty eight year old and a twenty four year old? Who the heck cares, right? But there's a BIG developmental difference between sixteen and twelve.

Okay. Off of my soap box, but, yeah.

In conclusion, this manga was just weird. Beyond weird. I have no idea what I just read, or why. The mangaka didn't seem to have a handle on the plot or direction of the story, and the parts she did have a handle on (Julie, Ryan, and the little brother whatever his name is) I am disgusted by. The manga endorses abusive relationships.

I mean, what the heck! If there were no good guys for Julie, if she had no options, sure! Put her with Ryan. Maybe there's no such thing as compatibility. But Ryan's younger brother Lance is pretty much perfect, and he's RIGHT THERE. He treats her with incredible kindness, respect, and consideration. Is that really so unromantic to just go with the nice guy instead of the guy who calls you ugly and tried to kill you a few times? I mean, come ON!

A solid 3. Poorly executed, hot mess.

This was an INCREDIBLE manga.

I started reading this to procrastinate homework about...oh, less than twenty four hours ago. And when I first started, I was not overly impressed. The art was a bit rough, kind of confusing, and in some ways just poorly/sloppily executed. But for whatever reason, I committed myself.

And then it just got better and better! Characters that seemed so hollow at first, so poorly developed, began to gain in momentum. Her comical reactions to constructive criticism went from laughably unrealistic to just flat out admirable. It was absurdly inspiring to me!

My FAVORITE aspect of the manga was the main love ... interest. I have never seen such a brilliant backstory for such a cold personality; this mangaka did not rush it. It comprised several chapters, and it was heart wrenching and totally relatable. And he was COMPLETELY humanized, COMPLETELY! It was insane.

It's a manga about discovering yourself and hard work. And it's about making service to others; everyone became happier as they stopped fearing failure and reached out towards their dreams and others.

The characters were all very interesting. Even though they were clumsily conveyed, as the mangaka improved, you truly like all of them. Such interesting personalities! Some of them never truly see the light of day (what's-his-face-womanizer from the original group of four "dropouts"), but others, like Mizuki, transform into the most amazing yet unconventional characters.

I mean, for a third member in a love triangle, Mizuki was just different and unashamed of it. He's a black haired guy with glasses who acts NOTHING like black-haired-glasses-guys (think Ouran High). He was soft and gentle and TOTALLY and delightfully unrelatable in the beginning, like a cherubic small child yet tall and good looking and incredibly talented.

I loved the hard work that the main character puts in. It's a fantastic representation of reaching a crazy goal like her's.

I even loved the ending! Somehow I was not let down and left feeling that it ended to abruptly. There wasn't much of anything left unaddressed. Honestly, though, I could have kept reading it forever. Normally it's such a drag for me to read. But since I didn't move once for five hours when I found it, it's safe to say I was captivated.

Story:
The plot never dragged for me. It was all delightful, and the chapters were never very long. I constantly wanted to move t the next chapter.

Art:
It wasn't OVERLY pervy (although it favored short skirts). But I never saw awkwardly busty women to make our a-cup main character feel awful, so I approve! And it was certainly rough in the beginning, but I give it a nine for the beauty and grace it achieves by the end. You simply have to stick with it.

Character:
You know, I'm not totally sure how the main character changes (mostly she just falls in love and improves in her skills and knowledge). But Senri's transformation was INCREDIBLE and very realistic. For Senri and Mizuki, I WOULD give a ten. But there are randomly underdeveloped characters, like her sister and other "friends". There are other minds that I wish I'd been able to have a peek into, but it was such flawless story telling that I am NOT complaining.

Enjoyment:
It's obvious I adored this manga. Some parts are just laugh out loud (although I've certainly read funnier; I laughed only once every few chapters, really) and some are squeal-worthy. Some parts are just adorable yet sad; this main character doesn't hold with self pity. But she gets in at least one good cry that you REALLY feel like she deserves and really adds more dimension to her relationship to Senri...but I digress. It was fantastic.

Overall:
A ten. Oh, man. I am SO GLAD I got over my judgemental side and stuck with it to see it transform into a story that I will treasure forever. It's not perfect, but the themes, characters, plot, and romance are all wonderful. It's probably now one of my all time favorite mangas.

This manga is very different. It started out perhaps a bit rough; I almost wrote it off. But then I realized that, although having a bit of a slow start, it was surprisingly, subtlely well done. I gave it a chance, and WOW. It was breathtaking.

The characterization is subtle but beautiful. You see so many different sides of both characters; they go so far beyond their character stereotypes. It was just fascinating! Surprisingly, I felt like I identified with Keiko, and I truly came to care for her. Rarely do we come to love protagonists and truly root for their happiness. Seems like we can ... just find them amusing or tolerable, but Keiko was different. She was...very relatable. Very real. Everything from her attitudes about school, her future aspirations, her love life, and then Kosuke is just very realistic. I LOVED her epiphany. And Kosuke also reaches beyond the stereotypical fluffy guy. His pain and his passion for film was equally as breathtaking. And watching them grow from their lighthearted, perhaps insecure high school days to mature adults close to realizing success was fantastic.

This story isn't super flashy or funny. The art is sort of odd but managed to be pleasant once you got used to it. And it did play on a lot of cliches. But it was done insightfully and carefully. I don't necessarily agree with some of the messages, but I still greatly enjoyed it.

So, y'know. It could either be really boring or really touching. Depends on your attitude going in, I suppose.

This is a tolerable one-shot. It's a cliche plotline, but it's stomachable. Almost sweet. You're really sort of rooting for them. I mean, she's a judgemental freak, and the fact that a popular, nice guy would care about this plain girl remains to be seen. But, hey. A ton of shoujo manga doesn't make sense. So, yeah, it was okay. Until the end.

He ruins her life. He ACTUALLY ruins it, publishing her secret, horrible journal type thingy for everyone to see. Everyone hates her for it (Who could LIKE a girl who does that anyway? But that's besides the point). What he did was abusive ... on SO many levels. Controlling, disturbing, and creepy to the HIGHEST degree. It's akin to breaking her legs so she can't walk out the door. HOW is that romantic, to make everyone hate her so that nobody will like her but him? So. Flippin'. Creepy.

I mean, yeah. A ton of romance bends moral rules just for the sake of angst, for the sake of plot. But there are some messages that shouldn't be sent. It is NOT okay for a guy to do that to somebody he likes. That is ABUSIVE and shows a COMPLETE lack of respect and twists love into something hideous. If it had been me, I would have run screaming. He's horrible. Repulsive. Disgusting. Things like possessiveness and jealousy are NOT attractive or acceptable things in a relationship. These emotions are destructive and poisonous and above all shameful, not cute or romantic. If a guy is jealous, yeah, it means he likes you a lot. But it also means he doesn't trust you, which is the fundamental building block of relationships.

It was okay. But the message was just so wrong.