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If you're looking for a fun, magical, curious, little manga, go check out Forbidden Scrollery by Zun & Moe Harukawa. The story follows four girls living in the traditional Japanese village of Gensokyo, a place isolated from the normal world where supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore abound.

Newly released in English by Yen Press. You might not have come across it yet, but I think it's worth your time. Known as Touhou Suzunaan in Japan, the series has complete at 7 volumes.


Kosuzu runs a bookstore with her parents called Suzunaan. They sell and rent a wide variety of books, but to those with ... specific knowledge, Kosuzu also sells Youma (demon) books.


Youma books can be:
Written by ancient yokai for other yokai
Written by yokai for humans
Magic Grimoires
Texts sealing away yokai

So they are considered to be very dangerous. Our magician, Marisa, and shaman, Reimu, know they need to do something about this bookshop. But when they visit Suzunaan, they are surprised to find that Kosuzu not only knows what the books are, but she has the ability to read them.


She's overly enthusiastic about her collection, and comes across as slightly unstable. As if mad with passion, and blind to the dangers.

Our town vigilantes realize they will need to keep an eye on her.


The rest of volumes takes us through chapters in which different yokai cause different disturbances.

Review:

Although this story is on the simplistic side I really enjoy its atmosphere.

The art style is quite cute & that clashes perfectly with the sinister undertones to each new plot about a dangerous or mischievous yokai.

Kosuzu is likably, and her bookshop feels incredibly cozy, but I don't trust her at all. I can tell she will continue to cause all kinds of trouble in the volumes to come.


I think the friendly rivalry between Marisa and Reimu a good source of comedy. They both think they know more about how to exercise yokai than the other. And seem like they can both be tempted by yokai books and things they should stay away from. So they are not reliable heroes.


Volume one has also hinted at the larger world for us with Tanuki in the woods, an apparently wealthy vampire, the dangers of foxfire and comparably less dangerous oni fire, and a night parade.

Some things referenced in this manga would be familiar to a Japanese audience, but perhaps less so to a foreign audience, like references made to The Tengu's Apology Letter & The Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll. Translation notes at the back of the volume are helpful for anyone unfamiliar with the significance of these.


Oddly enough, this manga comes to us out of a gaming franchise called Touhou Project. I have no idea why -- but I've noticed a growing number of the anime and manga I enjoy have come out of games I have never played 🤔.

Bizarre.

But if you enjoy the world of Gensokyo, you will find there is much more to explore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touhou_Project#Print_media

In Conclusion:
Rating:4/5
Genre: Yokai, Traditional Japanese Setting, Cute Girls Doing Cute Things
Length: 7 Volumes, Complete
Plans to Continue? Yes. I am buying volumes as they are released in English from Yen Press

What This Story Has To Offer:
Supernatural mysteries
Supernatural beings [yokai]
Mischief comedy
Isolated fantasy setting
Traditional Japanese town
Bookstore
Magic
Shrine Maidens
Exorcists

A perfect read for people enthusiastic about Japanese folklore.

I have more posts on my blog: nerdificationreviews.com

Looking for a fun, modern, age-gap romance, from your shoujo manga? This one's for you!

Plot:

Meeko, a cheery high school student, moves into her uncles boarding house after her parents leave to care for her ailing grandmother. She's excited for the independence. The only hardships ahead of her include learning to cook balanced meals and using the washing machine on her own.

Luckily, the boarding house has five other tenants. The catch? They’re all young professionals.
Meeko can’t help feeling exhilarated by her cool new life surrounded by sleek furnishing and roommates whose lifestyles are so different from her own.

Often arriving home late from work, or ... not at all, the adults run on totally different schedules from a high school student. On rare occasions when everyone is together they include Meeko in the fun. Through them Meeko glimpses what her future could be like & can't deny she wants to grow up fast.



There is, however, one tenant who is always home. Matsunaga (27) is a freelance graphic designer, who has a habit of using the living room couch as his office.

Matsunaga takes Meeko under his wing. He can be pushy and stern with her, but through his guidance she learns to do all her own chores quickly. He also keeps an eye on her, making it impossible for her to hide the fact that she needs help. He behaves like a concerned older brother.

Oh, and his room is located right next to hers.

Unfortunately for Meeko, the more Matsunaga is kind to her, the more she can’t ignore the crush she's developed on him.


Review:

This is a strong first volume. The setting and character personalities are established quickly, so it was easy to become invested in the plot. I was excited to see what situations they would get into.

I enjoyed everything in this first volume. The story unfolds logically. Meeko’s circumstances for moving are realistic. The personalities of all the characters are believable. And the overall atmosphere is playful and modern. As the reader, I even felt a sense of wonder, like "Wow, it would be fun to live there."



Meeko's crush on Matsunaga develops quickly, but it’s justified. Rather than slap us with shallow insta-love right away, the mangaka takes the time to show us what Meeko see's in him.

Even when he's pushing her we realize Matsunaga means well. He's treating her like an adult, rather than like she’s a helpless child. At the same time he can be playful. Even immature, like when the housemates tease him.

The mangaka does not rely on cheap tricks to get the characters flirting. There is no blackmail plot. Matsunaga has no ulterior motive to helping her. He's just a nice, capable, guy who happens to be there.



The way Meeko handles her crush also feels authentic. Again there's no gimmicks used to create tension. She doesn't start plotting a way to win his affection, or make him jealous. Rather, Meeko struggles against her growing feelings. And the tension becomes about her keeping them secret, afraid that if she let them slip things will be ruined.

Meeko's character has some agency and proactivity. Like when helps Matsunaga with his newest design, cooks, and cherishes the gift he buys her. She wants to become a good housemate.

Everything is complicated by their proximity. The mangaka finds new ways to play off this central conflict. Raising the stakes for a potential romantic development between them. Will Meeko accidentally confess? Will Matsunaga’s friendly intentions cross a line?

The mangaka, Keiko Iwashita, manages to build this tension wonderfully out of ordinary life.



Side Characters:

The side characters all have distinct personalities and create a complimentary atmosphere to the romance plot. Especially Asako and Kentaro.

Asako is beautiful, kind, and very fashionable. Meeko looks up to her as the perfect example of how an adult woman should be. Kentaro is the resident ladies man who will make the uncomfortable jokes about Miko and Matsunaga flirting.

Meeko's Uncle doesn’t have much presence on the page, but the mangaka does give him a convincing reason for not living in the boarding house he owns. He is caring towards all the tenants, but I wonder what will happen if the romance plot progresses under his roof.

The other two tenants are Ryou, a collage student, and Akane, who might be the quirky female. They don't have much presence in volume one, but they get more page time in volume two.

Chapters end with funny commentary from the house cat, Sabako.



What this story has to offer you
Attractive Character Designs
Slice of Life
A Lively Boarding House
Age Gap
Modern Atmosphere
Romantic Tension
Playfulness
Trendy Decor & Clothing
Lovable Cast of Characters

This adorable slice of life drama is set in a small high school where our characters meet each other upon entering and build relationships until they graduate. It is of course character driven, with the overall theme being about falling in love and creating lasting relationships.

The characters represent all different personalities, from the painfully shy Suiren to the idol-like Atohira. The unique aspect of this story is that both the male and female lead are shy, making the way their relationship unfolds different from other love stories of their kind.



Let's jump right into our characters--

The Characters

... Suiren
The main female protagonist was tormented in elementary school by her classmates because she is so cute. As a result, her best friend Aya took up the job of protecting her. Suiren, possibly stunted by her friend's protection, stopped smiling or talking to anyone else.



Now that the two have entered a co-ed high school, Suiren is again attracting unwanted attention, but in this school they will meet someone who inspires Suiren to come out of her shell.

Kawasumi
The main male protagonist is dedicated to his club activity, karate. He is very skilled in the sport and is a completely different person while practicing it. Outside of the club he is quiet and even timid around girls whom he does not know how to talk to.



He has a good sense of justice, and a healthy respect for hard work, but he seems lost when it comes to ordinary, un-regimented, high school life.

Aya and Yuri
Aya has been protecting Suiren since they were in elementary school. She is a no nonsense kind of girl with a mostly cynical outlook on life, but she supports Suiren's wishes just as much as she babies her.



She offers plenty of comic relief to the story along with admirable loyalty.
Yuri is a girl whom Suiren and Aya befriend in their first year of high school. She has previously attended school with the boys and therefore makes it possible to get the two groups closer together.

Yuri aids Suiren with girly things and dating advice, as Aya has no experience or interest in those areas.

Ryosuke
Ryosuke is Kawasumi's best friend. Kindhearted and loyal, he comes off as the type of guy who would blindly follow Kawasumi to the ends of the earth, but the more you get to know him, the more you get to see his spine in their relationship--that, and the fact that he's kind of a lazy goof.

He values his friendship with Kawasumi and because of this he is not afraid to push back against Kawasumi's "lone wolf" mentality. Ryosuke always wants to help those around him.

Koharu
Koharu is the senpai who confesses to Kawasumi, even though he is younger than her. She is very attractive, but Kawasumi does not know what to do in situations such as these and her confession does not go as planned.

Koharu declares herself Suiren's rival and you get the feeling that she is not a girl who is accustomed to being in second place. Surprisingly, her character is not as annoying as I had anticipated her to be, in fact, I found myself feeling sorry for her at times.

Ichi and Atohira
Ichi is Kawasumi's older brother. He comes off as quiet, spacey, and weird--but kind. The others joke that Ichi and Suiren are alike in their quiet weirdness, something that worries Suiren.

There is not much mention of Ichi's relationship to his younger brother.

Atohira is Ichi's best friend and frequently visits his and Kawasumi's house. He is senpai to Kawasumi and has left karate in favor of playing baseball at his school. Atohira is a foil to Suiren's character because he is a handsome male character who is popular with the females even though their attention is unwanted.

Atohira handles this situation much differently than Suiren. However, whether he handles it better than her is left up to the reader to decide. Atohira is cynical when it comes to love, especially love at first sight.



His intentions are a bit of a mystery at first, but his character really rounds off the story. Without him it would have felt incomplete. Especially with regards to his somewhat complicated relationship with Kawasumi.

The Plot

This story follows these characters through their high school career. Suiren and Kawasumi fall in love and have to learn what that means. Neither of them are very adept at communicating, nor does either one have any clue as to how to be in a relationship.

They figure things out slowly, including how to balance club activities, friends, and rivals into and out of their life they are creating together.



I really loved all the relationships that occur between all the characters.

This was a super cute, super quick, feel-good read, yet all of the characters have stuck with me.
I suspect that this must have been the case for many readers, because volume 12 of the manga is a nice little "closure" volume full of short chapters of whats going on after the end of the story.

Shinobi Life is a 13 volume shoujo manga series by Shoko Conami and published between the years 2006 - 2012.

In North America, Tokyo Pop only published volumes 1-7 in English before shutting down shop.

In this review I will only spoil a few plot points to explain the series overall, but I assure you, this character driven saga has much more to offer than bones I'll extract here.

The plot opens with Beni Fujiwara, daughter of a wealthy Japanese family, being kidnapped. Only there is something off about this kidnapping. Beni does not seem fearful, but her kidnapper does.

Before we get an answer on ... what is really going on here, a Ninja falls from the sky.



What a way to open a scene, right?

We quickly learn that Beni has been putting herself in danger to get back at her father, whom she blames her mothers death on.

And that our fallen ninja keeps calling Beni, Princess Beni.



The rest of the first volume is loaded with absurdist humor and misunderstandings as Beni comes to the realization that the man in the ninja costume, Kagetora, might actually be from the past.

Kagetora protected her ancestor, Princess Beni, whom she looks exactly like.

Kagetora thinks he is protecting the Princess in some alternate dimension of the enemy.



While this early plot reads as farfetched and very silly, the first volume ends with a trip to the past and the first inkling that there might be much more substance to the story long term.



I'm glad I did not stop reading.

What started out as a silly story, full of exploited misunderstandings, and a parent versus child feud taken too far, suddenly turns into a heartwarming tale about a secret Shinobi, ninja, village from a time forgotten.

And the story of two orphaned boys who grow up knowing no other life than the Shinobi life.



Our female protagonist falls in love with Kagetora along the way and is plagued by the worry that she is just a replacement for the princess he has lost.

But regardless of her feelings, Beni's father has forbidden a relationship with Kagetora. With his resources, there isn't a place anywhere in the world they could escape him.

Beni pleads with Kagetora to escape to the past with her, but Kagetora knows they won't find the happiness they seek there either.



But before they can find out. They stumble through the portal, and are separated. Landing them both in different timelines.

And this marks the real beginning of our story.

Beni finds herself taken into the Shinobi village by Kagetora. But he is not her Kagetora.

Instead it is his past self of fourteen years old. Training to be a ninja, back before the violent scars covered his body.



Three Things Were Done Expertly in This Manga:
1. Time Travel
2. Character Incorporation
3. Romance

Time Travel

The way time travel works in this story really helps to raise the stakes.

The portals are always located in the same place. In the past you must jump off a certain cliff. In the future you must jump off a certain building. However, you cannot choose what time in the past you will land.


If you are not physically tethered to the other person you will be separated by time travel.

Thus when our characters get separated it becomes a major hurtle for them to get back on the same timeline. Finding one another requires jumping through time over and over again until finally meeting by chance.

It is a desperate task, and yet they do it to once again be together.

Time travel also has one great danger.




Character Incorporation

The story starts out with Beni and Kagetora, a powerful father, and a handful of petty antagonists. But things quickly escalate. The petty antagonists become a real threat and the father becomes a major barrier.



At the time of Beni's separation from Kagetora, both their lives are in serious danger from Hitake. Another time traveling ninja.

But through the time travel plot we learn the pasts of every single character, witnessing what happened to turn them into who they are today.

Because the time travel lands the characters at random along the time line we put the pieces of this puzzle together out of order, but in a way where each new reveal hits with a punch to the gut.



I often felt conflicted about hating the bad guys & flipping the pages faster to learn the rest of the story.

Like these individuals had a karmic destiny to stay together. Every single character was fully fleshed out and important to the plot by its end.


Romance

The insta-love in this series worked for me because of the time travel plot.



Beni and Kagetora have many obstacles to overcome to be happy together. There are not only external barriers barring their way, but also the internal confusion nagging at both of them.

The antagonists accuse Kagetora of using Beni as a replacement for Princess Beni.

Though Kagetora and Beni feel in their hearts that it is not true, neither can prove it.

Untilll...

Beni travels to the past and has the unique opportunity to meet the fourteen year old Kagetora.

She gets to witness firsthand how he became the man he is now. And the origin of the score he must settle with Hitake, his rival.

But most importantly, she gets her proof that she is not a replacement for Princess Beni, because, by traveling back to the past, she actually met Kagetora first.

The mystery which remains, is why does he not remember? And if you want to find out why, you should read Shinobi Life!



This manga was an excellent read. I highly recommend it to you. It is a love story at heart, but the larger plot which ties all the characters together through time and space is even more excellent.

It is unfortunate that we did not see a full English publication in the past, but perhaps we can get it in the future now that Tokyo Pop has reemerged.

I don't know about you, but for me, the years 2002-2005 were all about punk rock. Even though I grew up in New Jersey, USA, and this manga was written in Japan, The Wallflower, a punky-gothic-shoujo manga, really captures that time period. Oh nostalgia...

This manga series is a difficult one for me to review. Mostly because, while I enjoy it immensely, it is hard to recommend it to others.

The uniqueness of this series does not appear to be unanimously appreciated, so I plan to do my best here to explain what this series is, and what it is not, ... in the hopes that the people who would enjoy it will be able to find it.


The Plot

At its core, this is an Ugly Duckling story, but it's definitely a different take on it. Sunako Nakahara, 15 years old, is the niece of a very wealthy widow and moving into her mansion to attend the high school nearby. The preexisting tenants, four 15 year old bishounen, are tasked by Sunako's Aunt with turning her into a lady.

If they succeed, their rent will be free. If they fail, they will owe 3x the amount of the rent. The Aunt is never home, instead she extravagantly travels the world and will check in on their progress randomly throughout the series.

Kyouhei, the most beautiful and most desired of the four boys, feels the pressure of this deal the most because he is poor, unable to work, and essentially homeless.

The catch? Sunako is the furthest thing from the ideal proper lady. She's a recluse who loves slasher horror movies, talks to her anatomical figure named Hiroshi-kun, has a phobia of attractive people, and is not interested in changing.


The Misconception

Hm. Why this manga loses readership...

I think many readers go into this series with expectations which will not be fulfilled. The story being told, and the method of storytelling used, in The Wallflower is atypical for a shoujo manga.
It seems the most common complaint about this series, by those who have dropped it, is it's lack of progression.

This is a valid critique in the sense that, yes, there is a lack of linear progression in character development, romantic relationships, and plot development.


However, the reason for that is because this manga is not telling a linear story. Instead, it is playing on reader expectations by subverting all the tropes. And how punk rock is that?

This series is not a romance, its a comedy. A crude, over the top, sometimes slapstick, comedy told in an episodic style for 36 volumes. Character and plot progression is often reset when a chapter concludes in a comedic fashion. Its like a punky Saturday morning cartoon where the monster of the week is nearly always Sunako.


There are romantic tensions and subplots within this series, but they are not the focus. The focus is the comedy that ensues when these strong personalities clash while trying to live together in the mansion.

I completely understand why some readers found its lack of progression and character development frustrating, but if you can come to see this story in the light of what it actually is, rather than what you might have expected it to be, its really quite charming.

I was sad to see it end even after 36 volumes, because I missed being with the characters. And I can assure you that the instances of character growth and romantic tension, while small, are there.


Why I think it's Actually Quite Refreshing

From the synopsis you would assume that the four boys turn Sunako into a lady, that all of them fall in love with her, and by the end of the series she must choose only one. But that is not what happens at all.

First off, the boys are not perfect whatsoever. Kyouhei is a brute, Ranmaru is a womanizer, Takenaga is a stick in the mud, and Yuki is childish. They all know each others flaws, but they act like brothers.



Each of the characters have romantic plot lines, but each relationship develops slowly, and in a manner that is very true to the characters' unique personalities and situations.

They do not all fall in love with Sunako, but they do all come to value her for exactly who she is. Even with her stubborn, selfish, fearful, nature.

The truth that this manga pursues for its characters is that not all of them are ready for romance.

Some have had traumatic past experiences with love and family relationships that have damaged them. And this new found friendship among the residents of the mansion, no matter how bizarre it seems, is enough for them right now.



I love this valuing of friendship, especially between males and females.

The boys can often get Sunako to pretend she is a Lady to achieve a certain goal, but afterwards she goes right back to being a goth with a bad attitude.



Sunako has serious issues with body image, self worth, and human connection. The boys seem to realize this about her, as well as, the fact that they can only do so much to help her with it.
The bulk of the work is on Sunako's end and needs to start with her realizing she has an issue, and becoming willing to work on herself to better her life.

Sunako thinks there is something fundamentally different between her and the so called 'Radiant Ones'. So when the boys focus on getting her to change her self image while still accepting her for who she is it hits me right in the feels.

That being said, the boys will also hit her with a reality check when necessary, which also hits me in the feels.

And yet, despite their efforts, Sunako continues to resist change.

I love this aspect of the story, because rather than seeing it as a dead-end, it feels very true to Sunako's character.

Sunako is not miserable. In actuality, she lives an extremely comfortable, indulgent, life. Her only misfortune is that she has to go to school and has nosebleeds when the boys are too handsome around her.


There isn't actually any catalyst for her to change her ways at 15 years old.

Sunako is not a lost cause. She is good at plenty of things other than the one thing her Aunt wants for her. And even the girls in the series whom she befriends adore her for her talents and friendship despite the rest of her quirks.


The Crude Humor

The comedy, and general storytelling, in this series is rather brutish and unrefined.

Along with the fact that these princes are NOT Prince Charmings comes Kyouhei constantly calling Sunako a bitch, and Sunako repeatedly threatening to murder them.

Sunako makes references to how much she would like to see a crime scene and a dead body.
The boys endure an absurd amount of sexual harassment, like when their adoring female fans attack them in a mob formation.

This manga feels like its about real (rude) teenagers.

Even if so much of it is absurd. These characters are very young, living unsupervised in a mansion, and combating a whole slew of unrealistic, extreme, altercations which are often as bizarre as they are entertaining. Their selfish, stubborn, unwise, and childish behavior feels quite realistic.

C'mon didn't you curse a lot and do stupid things as a teenager too?

And as someone who generally prefers sweet, relaxing, nonabrasive stories, the irony of my enjoyment of this series is definitely not lost on me.


The Art

The art style and quality is all over the place in this series. Most of the characters spend the bulk of the time in chibi form, which to me makes sense because that is often used to demonstrate comedy and the bulk of the series is comedy.

Even when characters are out of chibi form they are often looking slightly off. Almost like they are monsters. Hands and feet might be HUGE and attached to stick skinny arms and legs. Faces might be extremely pointed with eyes positioned in ways that really throw off the perspective.

Sometimes the boys look alike, but they have such distinct personalities that I usually had not issue telling them apart.

It is not a favorite art style of mine at all. Even when the characters are in their bishounen glam shots, like on the covers, I'm not into it at all. That being said, I do feel like it fits this story perfectly.


Kyohei and Sunako

The friendship that blossoms between these two gets very close to love. By the end of the manga it is hard to argue that they will not end up together in the future. And thats okay. It doesn't feel like an inconclusive love story because neither of these two are ready for a romantic relationship.

They both need a friend they can trust first.

In Conclusion

This manga is not going to give you anything you would typically expect from a shoujo manga, and that is what is so fantastic about it.

If you're a sucker for unlikely friendships, like me, then read this series.

If you like series' with crude humor, read this series.

The absurdist humor included in The Wallflower is sure to make you laugh, and you don't need to read it all straight through, so I highly recommend you try out a couple volumes for yourself.

MORE ANIME REVIEWS: nerdificationreviews.com

This quiet fantasy series with low drama & low conflict asks the viewer to slow down and indulge while watching each episode.

Set in a woodland realm populated by tiny people, talking animals, curious bugs, and reanimated skeletons, this anime is charming in a way that others just don't manage to achieve.

Hakumei to Mikochi is a Iyashikei, Japanese for healing story. A Iyashikei has the same goal as a young children's cartoon -- think Franklin the Turtle or Little Bear -- aimed at distracting and soothing children while they watch, but instead Hakumei to Mikochi aims to soothing adults.

Even though this series is low on ... conflict, things tend to go wrong, giving our character plenty of opportunity to show emotional depth and range of ability.

Hakumei can be boisterous and impulsive, while Mikochi is much more seriously introverted, but opposites attract. The two enjoy each others' company very much.

Life is truly celebrated for exactly how it is in this story ... even if say you accidentally blow up your home & then need to rebuild it.

Or it rains during your fishing trip.

If you understand what you're getting, there's really nothing not to like about this anime.

The only complaint I have seen from those who did not enjoy it is it's slowness -- which there is no getting around. Slowing down to enjoy life is the major theme that Hakumei to Mikochi plays with.

The animation reinforces this by pulling panels out of the scene and pausing them on screen. Both reminding us to pause & citing the manga origins of this story.

My Anime Review Blog: nerdificationreviews.com