Fall in Love like a Comic

Rena has a double life. She is a normal high school girl but she is also a mangaka. She has a popular comic and she likes to write love scenes. She accidentally bumps into Tomoya the school idol and drops her latest manuscript. She tries to keep being a mangaka a secret in fear of being found out and being kicked out of school because of her sexy drawings. Fearing the worst she goes back to school and finds that Tomoya has her work and he threatens to tell everyone. She tells him the truth then asks him if he would be her boyfriend to help her out. She has never had a boyfriend before and feels her work is missing something...first hand experience. He shockingly agrees. He has turned everyone else down. Why does he agree and what does he have in mind? 

There is only one book so far with another one being planned. This isn't anything groundbreaking but it is funny to see how hard she works and how happy it makes her. You wonder if all mangaka are like that? Also, I liked the frame of Tomoya's face when she tells him he is just like a shoujo manga hero. I can't quite tell if he was in pain with hurt feelings or is it disgust...maybe something smelled really really bad. Whatever the case, she totally missed it. It's cute and classic. It was previewed in Shojo Beat if you don't want to buy the whole book.

Bride of the Water God

The book hails from Korea by Yoon Mikyung/Mi-kyung Yun ( I am not sure of the proper spelling). It is licenced and is being published by Dark Horse comics. This is romance no question. There is a seriousness to it however that from as much as I have read so far could be explored some more. The art is beautiful. At first I thought some of the people were a bit too distracting and less impressive than the backgrounds. That seemed to work itself out or maybe I just got used to it. There are funny moments and the art reflects that.

Soah is a local girl made into a "bride" aka sacrifice for the water god to stop a draught. Instead of dying she is rescued by Habaek the water god and is now in a magical world. Her new husband is a little boy and not what she was expecting at all. Gods however are never what they seem and it is something Soah needs to figure out. There are other Gods and intrigues and she may son have to pick sides. I won't spoil it for you. I know have been looking forward to this for a while. I started reading it in scanlations and had to wait seemingly forever before the book finally came out in the USA. Even if you don't want to read it look at the art at least. The feudal Korea/magical world look of it is nicely done.

Oresama Ouji

Not much to say about this one yet. I have only read the first chapter. The main character Sawa hates Judo. Her father has a dojo and she is strong. However, being too strong is why she has always been rejected in love. She decides to just be a regular high school girl and start over. She is chosen as the Judo club manager against her will by the handsome captain. He even claims to know her but she can't remember him. He makes her work hard yet watches over her to make sure she is ok. How will she handle being involved in the sport she now hates with a captain that seems to like her? What is their past? I have the link to the scans on the right. Nagara-boshi.

Love Monster

Hiyo Osora failed the entrance exam to the high school. She then receives a strange acceptance letter to Saint Monster Academy. Her father is an alumni of the school, so she decides to go to the school. When she first arrives there, she gets hazed and meets the school president, Kurou Tenma. She is surprised to find the school is filled with people who are actually monsters in disguise. Then Kurou announces that she is his fiancée. She faints and wakes up to find that Kurou and her share a room. The only way she can get out is with him carrying her in his arms because he is a crow demon with black wings and he can fly from their tower bedroom. Hiyo becomes more and more used to the monsters of the school, though strange things happen that reveal Hiyo is a monster herself. She is the great White Crow who is also rarely seen. I really like this manga. It is fun and I like the art. At first it was a little hard to follow. The flow seemed a little off. There are a few more uhm...romantic moments but it ( so far as I have read) haven't been too far. There are some of the usual tight shirt, panty shots with Hiyo that I could do without. I like the plot with Hiyo and Kurou's past and the mystery of the white crow. I love her dad! There are scans at ShoujoMagic and you can read them online at OneManga. I will post the links. Read and have fun..:)

Shibutanikun Tomo no Kai

I have no idea why I like this. I should be too old. I think it's cute so, there you are. I am a sucker. Anyway, Shibutani by Tohru Fujieda is center around the boy above, Ageha. He is the eldest (and shortest) of three brothers. He takes care of them all since they have no parents to look out for them. He cooks (very well) and cleans and is almost like a mother. He has a crush on a girl in his class named Nina. She doesn't know about his lack of parents and thinks the lunch he brings in for her every day was made my his mother. Ageha tries to impress Nina by singing for her in the park with his brothers in a band and meets Range. Range is a mysterious character. he is handsome and can sing, much to Ageha dismay since he can't. Later on we also find out Range is a model. Range thinks Ageha is cute and basically kidnaps him to "the big house" where he lives with a few other odd people. Nina was late and missed it but in the end they all wind up living with Range. Ageha to keep an eye on Nina (who is enthralled with Range) and cook. His poor brothers are left at home..:( How can Ageha get Nina's attention? What is up with Range? Is he just really aloof? What does he want from Ageha? Later on another character is introduced with ties to Range. Jealous ones once he/she meets Nina. He/she you ask? It's complicated but that is what keeps it interesting. I like this story being mostly from Ageha's point of view. I really like him. He is just a regular guy. Short but sweet. Insecure but bold when he needs to be. An honest friend. I think Range is surrounded by so many people who want something from him he likes being around Ageha. I am at Vol. 3 chap. 11 scanned by Entropy. I have a link for them on the right. Check them out.

Zero Count

I've Just finished reading Vol.1 Chap. 6 of this scanlated by DragonVoice. Check out their link. The pretty girl here on the left is told by her father she has a fiancee she knew nothing about. In fact they are a wealthy family with some business trouble. Which results in her father "borrowing" some money from and old friend. In exchange he gives his daughter over for marriage. To say she isn't pleased would be reasonable. Unfortunately her father refuses to tell her the name of her fiance. He does tell her what school he goes to, his letters of his initials (not in any order) and a few other clues. She decides to change schools, track the guy down and talk him out of the marriage. After all she figures he has been forced into this as well. So the hunt begins. The art is a little stiff for me but it is starting to become more interesting if a little disjointed at times. Just my opinion. I'm still going to read it though. I could never be a reviewer. I need to set limits. Can't....must....read.

Boku Ni Natta Watashi

OK, so I want to back track a little an make a quick statement about definitions and how I really don't care. I do care and want to be responsible but I mean I don't wish to get into huge arguments about semantics. Right off the bat let me say I am just a fan and make no claims of authority about this or that genre. I only know a few Japanese words my father taught me when I was little so I am not multilingual. I read Korean comic too so I don't want a fight about...no..no..that's manhwa. Also, the spellings of things might not be "accurate". For example, the title of this blog. I used Shojo and not Shoujo. I want to try and keep the blog more about the "young girl" definition even though I know shojo can mean virgin. The last post was about a comic that falls more into the Josei category. I added some links to definitions for people who may not know what I am talking about but I am not going to get to strict about stuff. I know there has been a lot of debates about what comic falls into which category. I wouldn't mind seeing comments. After all  feedback is what I'd like. So I hope I don't make anyone furious for those things.

It may seem like I am picking stuff out of the hat to write about. Actually I am only writing about what I am reading myself. I am reading a ton of different things. If I run out of ideas I'll let you know. So, Boku Ni Natta Watashi by Ako Shimaki is the lovely picture above. If you've ever read Hana Kimi you know all about the girl dressing up like a guy in an all guy school. That is about it for similarities.  Momoko has to take the place of her brother to save his spot in school by her mother. It isn't easy for her to do so since she is obviously a girl. Of course her roommate becomes the object of her affections. He figures it out right away and unlike in Hana Kimi he says so! I just finished Vol. 3 scanned by Storm in Heaven. I will add their link. I am not a reviewer. That is not my intent here. I just want to share what I am reading. I am reading Hana Kimi too. In fact I started reading that first so I really like the contrast in stories. I always get a kick out of the gender changing stuff anyway. I love the close calls and who is going to discover the secret next. Boku Ni Natta Watashi seems to be more romantically inclined earlier on in the story and we'll see how it plays out.