Jul 17, 2024
I’m not usually one to write reviews, but I decided that with the recent announcement of the Hana-kimi anime and as someone who decided to pick up the manga and see what it’s all about after the announcement without any knowledge of the series before the anime announcement, that I should write one.
Hana-Kimi is hands down a very well-made shoujo manga. I can see why so many people loved this series and were excited about the news of the anime adaptation. The story is well-written, the romance between the two main characters is adorable, the art is beautiful despite the art style being very 90s/early
...
2000s. Like I'm talking some of the characters having "Doritio chins". Speaking of the characters, they are hilarious. Especially the iconic school nurse and one of the main character's love interests who spends a lot of time questioning if he's into men because he has a crush on the cross-dressing female lead, but doesn't know that she's a girl. I’ll admit the series reminds me a bit of those old-school rom-coms, with the vibes and the humor.
I’m a fan of older shoujo, and I’ll admit the manga really pulled me in after the first few volumes because the story was interesting and because the characters were so funny. I was also really rooting for the main character, Mizuki Ashiya and her love story with Izumi Sano. I don’t think there are that many mangas where the main girl crossdresses to attend an all-boys school just to meet her idol, especially nowadays. I’ll say it reminds me of a lot of the crossdressing/body switching movies we had in the 2000s here in the US, so it was refreshing to read now and also felt like a blast from the past.
My only complaints are the overall pacing of the story and some of the language the series uses. I felt like the ending was very rushed and sudden, and the pacing at times in the story randomly had filler just to make you keep reading or to add something last-minute which didn’t make sense before going back to the story’s plot. I also felt like parts felt jumpy or rushed, but there’s only a few I can think of. The language is more coming from perspective of how media is today compared to back then, as the series was made during the 90s and early 2000s. There are some slurs that were acceptable to say back then, but not so much now, throughout a couple of parts of the manga. Given the time frame it was made and since I remember back in the day when media had this language, I'll let it slide. However, I thought it was something to mention in case anyone gets offended or doesn’t like that type of stuff in media.
Overall, I recommend checking out this series if you’re a fan of shoujo series, especially older ones, love a good comedy, a cute romance, and a story with lovable and well-developed characters.
With all that being said, I’m looking forward to the anime adaptation of this series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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