Tall Risa Koizumi and her short boyfriend, Atsushi Ôtani, have been dating for a while and have weathered various obstacles. Their latest opponent is Risa’s visiting grandpa, whose primary objection seems to be their difference in height. He feels so strongly about it that he hires a hostess to seduce Ôtani in order to sabotage their relationship. This leads to two chapters of … [Read more...] about Love*Com 14 by Aya Nakahara: B-
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Love*Com 12-13 by Aya Nakahara: B
I used to be very fond of Love*Com but after a disappointing eleventh volume, my ardor cooled and the volumes have been piling up. For most of these two volumes, I was happy again, but when Risa's grandfather is introduced at the end of volume thirteen, it all goes rapidly downhill. Volume twelve begins with the gang awaiting Ôtani's exam results and Risa trying to decide … [Read more...] about Love*Com 12-13 by Aya Nakahara: B
Detroit Metal City 1 by Kiminori Wakasugi: C
From the back cover: By all appearances, Soichi Negishi is a sweet, well-mannered boy who loves Swedish pop music, trendy boutiques, and all things fashionable. But at the same time he's also Krauser II, front man for Detroit Metal City, an indie death metal band whose popularity increases by the day. Once the DMC makeup goes on and Soichi takes the stage, his natural talents … [Read more...] about Detroit Metal City 1 by Kiminori Wakasugi: C
High School Debut 11 by Kazune Kawahara: B+
From the back cover: Haruna becomes worried when she sees Yoh hanging out with an unattractive classmate. (Yoh does seem to have strange taste in women, after all...) She has good reason for feeling uneasy—it looks like this girl really does want to sabotage their relationship! Review: The main reason I love High School Debut is that it skewers some of the typical shojo … [Read more...] about High School Debut 11 by Kazune Kawahara: B+
Boys Over Flowers 36 by Yoko Kamio: B
After 36 dramatastic volumes, Boys Over Flowers has finally come to an end. It’s just too bad it didn’t happen sooner. The end of volume 31 would’ve been a good place, for example, with Tsukushi and Tsukasa finally realizing that their love is what’s most important in their lives. Instead, after Tsukasa recovers from a rather lame bout of amnesia, he announces that, due to his … [Read more...] about Boys Over Flowers 36 by Yoko Kamio: B