Sukitte iinayo (Say "I Love You")
by Kanae Hazuki-- Review of Volumes 1 to 4 --
~ Goodreads ~
Average Rating: 3.0 Stars
Reviewer's Note on 1/21/2018:
(1) I used the series page on GR as the link for this book. I didn't feel like linking all four books, as it didn't seem necessary.
(2) I didn't feel the need to change anything in this review aside from a few grammatical errors and typos if I found them. So this is a direct copy and paste.
Onward to the original review!
(1) I used the series page on GR as the link for this book. I didn't feel like linking all four books, as it didn't seem necessary.
(2) I didn't feel the need to change anything in this review aside from a few grammatical errors and typos if I found them. So this is a direct copy and paste.
Onward to the original review!
I haven't exactly been actively reading lately, even though I'm almost done with both The Book Thief and The Distance Between Us. But since it feels like I'm so behind on my Reading Challenges, and because I've been back in my anime groove lately I decided to pick up some manga as well. Of course, I'm kind of conflicted as to whether to count each volume as one entity of a book, or the entire series as one book.
Since, most of the time, manga volumes are published as separate books, I'll choose the former. (And it also helps me use them as sort of "cheat" books to catch up on my Reading Challenges. I'll make up for them later with a higher number of books read as well as longer novels in the 500+ pages range... maybe.)
Anyway...
Being a long time manga/anime fan, it's not hard for me to fall right back into the whole ordeal given the right anime or manga.
Sukitte iinayo isn't the best of manga story lines out there, but it's a cute, refreshing love story in the typically stereotypical and sometimes frustrating shoujo manga world where the girls are always cute, weak, bumbling idiots and the dude is Mr. Perfect Prince Charming. Indeed, this manga is a breath of fresh air.
I saw the anime first and got curious about the manga and so I started reading it, quickly blowing through the first 4 volumes.
And while I DO say that it's a refreshing new take on the "Cinderella meets Prince Charming" base trope (with a female lead whose got a heck care attitude about the world around her), it's still not very outstanding as a romance. Nonetheless, it's cute and I've enjoyed what I've read so far and will continue to read the rest of what's been released.
Tachibana Mei isn't your typical female character, but then again, given some time, she slowly transforms into one. Kurosawa Yamato is, of course THE typical shoujo manga male (not surprising there), but he's not a bad guy either (also, not surprising). As a couple, they work out pretty well, and it's refreshing to see the couple get together right off the bat rather than going through truckloads of misunderstandings, missed timings for confessions... the like... just to get them to admit they like each other.
Of course, that only means we get lots and lots of obstacles in the form of other peers trying hard to break up the relationship. Which is sad, because shoujo manga is so often full of vindictive people to the extreme.
Was high school always like this? I'm so far removed from teenaged years that I'm not even sure anymore. (Granted, I was always the invisible loner who could care less about other students and their drama...)
This manga series is still ongoing, having just finished up with Volume 11. The anime itself only goes as far as Volume 7, so I'm interested to see where the story goes after the anime's ending.
I will admit that I never thought I'd get back into anime and manga again, but the phase sure is lasting long right now.
Reviewer's Note on 1/21/2018: It didn't last long...
This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in January 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment