September Issue (2 of 2)


Ao Natsu - Shoujo
After a long long time this finally got an update. The question is: Is it worth it? To be honest I have mixed feelings about this. While the art is pretty decent, the premise is kind of lacking, the introduction of characters who are very close to the MC that don't appear again after a few pages (unless this drags on for quite some time and she returns) and the overwhelmingly generic development can be a huge turn-off. In fact it wouldn't be that bad if they didn't foreshadow the next plot point in an exaggerated fashion and draw it out (even though stuff gets solved within one chapter, it is a long chapter without much progress, because the development blocks any further, more meaningful stuff). characters are okay-ish. Long story short, I pretty much only recommend this to avid shoujo readers, the rest should avoid it, because it only stays slightly above the average generic shoujo. I'll just throw some word from the third chapter in here that made we wonder if I should keep reading: fiancé.

Haru Matsu Bokura - Shoujo
4 guys and one girl, that screams love triangle at you right? But so far there is no indication whatsoever of that happening, in fact the other guys act like real friends and are are even helping her to get closer to that one remaining guy. It has been pretty enjoyable and cliched situations are averted or turned into something else at the last minute (love rival for example). It is a thin line this manga walks on, but if this continues I don't see any problems. All characters are likable, the art is nice to look at but also simple. Keep in mind that this is still a shoujo romance, so some stuff follows the usual formula, but it's a fresh variant. Unless you can not stomach shoujo at all, give this a try. But in the former case you wouldn't read this here right?

Futari no Table - Shoujo
Why would you read this? Nice art, kids, each chapter has something to do with something to eat, some pretty serious things like child abuse as topics, the romance tag.
Why would you not read this? A bad mother, kids, the romance tag.
No, seriously this is a take it or leave it situation, the blushing of every single character in that manga can be awkward at times, especially if you consider the he is 28, she probably 12 and he works at a children's house. The characters are pretty nice (though that elementary school rival is obnoxious), but the situation may be too critical for most people. if you get over that fact it's not hard to imagine you enjoying this, if not, don't even think about it, just move on.

Magical Change - Shoujo
Sorry this is where I draw the line. Under no circumstances does this have a reason to appear in this thread. It's pure comedy manga with jokes you can smell from miles away. I endured 2 chapters of this thing and I think a massive amount of my brain cells committed suicide. This was my first shoujo with panty shots and panty shot jokes. I would have preferred to never find something like that. It reads like some dumb gag shounen and the "romance part" is laughable and not the funny kind of laughable. Just be warned. Read at your own risk.

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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

Magnet na Watashitachi - Shoujo
Minimalistic art style (backgrounds and stuff). The plot is not strong in this one (and completely obvious). Those two things are something that will make most people walk away from this manga, but it is in some way redeemed through (some) seriously funny stuff and the kid. MC turns annoying after the first half while the guy is dense but decent, even if he has no real reason for behaving like an idiot, it is still acceptable. So should you read it? Well, it is completed, so you don't have to wait for new chapters. Give this a shot if you like typical shoujo heroines and/or cute kids but there are better options out there for both.

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in need of romance?
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Seifuku Adventure - Seinen
This is a strange one, talking about morals and "indecent things" even though most people would not call it that way... The characters are also weird. This does however not mean that it's bad, actually the chapters so far are pretty nice and charming in their own way. It's probably one of those manga that either click with you or don't. Give this a shot if you are looking for something episodic and not very deep, the first chapters are short so you don't waste much time in deciding whether this is something for you or not. Though the only real difference from that decision will be whether you like it, or you really like it.

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Ok this time it's a special case but I hate it when some manga gets unfair treatment, even when it's from a group I do not personally like. Lack of information, lowest rating (seriously if you don't want to read a certain kind of manga to begin with, don't bother), horrible summary (can someone explain to me how chibi manages to write ok translations but summaries that look like from a 5 year-old?).

All for You! - Shoujo
It sounds cliched and you should probably wait until chapter 2 is out, because that will decide how things will turn out in the long run. The male lead is decent, he isn't an arrogant bastard like most shoujo leads, but doesn't wants to date anyone while attending school. The female lead is pretty cute and straight-forward: instead of just following him in the shadows she confronts him directly and speaks her mind openly, something I would not have guessed from looking at her. Art style varies depending on funny/serious/sparkly moments and that is fine. There hasn't been anything so far that I found particularly annoying, even if the translations seem to be missing a proofreader at times, it doesn't go as far as to keep you from enjoying this. If you are a shoujo fan, you'll probably like this, if you are usually okay with it, try this, if you usually don't like it at all, don't bother.

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Welp, thought I'd contribute to this wonderful thread.

Watashi no Ookami-kun has a few chapters out now. The art is exceptionally pretty with beautiful backgrounds and generic looking but pretty bishonen/bishoujo. So far, the story is fairly above par with what seems to be a reverse harem with a fantastical (i.e. furry) twist. I'd put the manga above average because of its great art and slightly unusual premise.

Last edited by sculamio at 2:43 pm, Nov 13 2014

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fiveblithebells.com

Bokukoi Conductor - Seinen
People may have already wondered why I didn't mention Ciel's next series until now. In all honesty it's not much to say about it, you'll probably like it if you enjoy their other (4-koma) projects. This focuses more heavily on the comedy aspect, but with chapter 10+ the actual romance topic seems to receive a more important role (before it was just played as a comedy card). Bear in mind that this is less serious, straightforward and progressing than similar series, so don't expect this series to move especially fast. The fact that the whole comedy is based on the "helping the one you love with their love while you don't know that you love her yet" is very static and breaking free from that device is dangerous. I'm worried how this will turn out because of that, but for most people it will be an enjoyable ride until that happens, possibly even after that. As usual with series of that kind, the support cast is top-notch, subjectively even better than the protagonists.

Seikai no Monshou (YONEMURA Kouichirou) - Seinen
Oh this one is an oddball. I admit I have no information on "Crest of the Stars" a novel and 90's anime. This remake doesn't even contain anything romance related so far except for the appearance of the female interest right on the last page. I still did mention this for its unique setting, the complications of different (genetically modified) races and the overall conflict. The characters are depicted pretty well and while I can't really remember their names, their roles, features and personalities are very clear. I am no fan of sci-fi series to be honest, but this oozes potential and veterans (who have read the novel or watched the anime) probably know whether this reaches that potential later on. For now there has been no indication that this won't be the case, so I hope to see more of this in the future.
Note that there doesn't seem to be an official group for it yet, so it may take some time until someone picks it up.

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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

Totsuzen Desu ga, Ashita Kekkon Shimasu A career woman whose biggest dream is to be a housewife breaks up with her boyfriend and falls into a relationship with a broadcaster who would "rather die than get married". This conflict in addition to their work troubles spur the story forward. So far, the story's been pretty good with proper characterization of both leads, so the reader can get an understanding of their motivations.The art is fairly generic josei with acceptably attractive characters.

Also, there are no official scanlations for this series, but you can find English trans with some Googling.

Last edited by sculamio at 6:45 am, Nov 25 2014

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fiveblithebells.com

Tonikaku Kimi ga. This starts out with the typical premise of enthusiastic, rule following, class president girl meets apathetic boy with a bad reputation, but goes much deeper than that. The story focuses on delving into the characters' backgrounds and why they came to be this way in the present. Both leads have had traumatic experiences, and they work together to overcome their past problems.

This one is above par in terms of art and story. The characterization has been pretty good so far, and I especially like the way that the leads build their relationship on mutual understanding and friendship before moving on into the romance (which currently hasn't happened yet, but is inevitable). The art is pretty good with a distinct style of clean lines and well proportioned characters.

This is another one that you'll find with googling, but trust me, English trans are out there.

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fiveblithebells.com

Kimi ga Inakya Dame tte Itte - Shoujo
I would like to give some good feedback about the substance, but so far only the characters are okay. Not good, not bad, okay. This is for two reasons: all of them are from a cliche textbook and get near to no screen time allowing for zero character progression whatsoever. The following is a spoiler for the first 4 chapters, if you don't like that, you will get my final result right here: If you aren't a huge shoujo fan avoid this, it will be a waste of your time with decent art, plot pieces that don't fit together and unnecessary drama. You could defend it saying that they want to introduce everything slowly, but honestly, this goes way overboard. It could get better, but don't get your hopes up, there was NO potential indicated at all...


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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

My Shiny World - Webcomic
A new webcomic from the author of Pinocchio. There is only one chapter scanlated, so all I can say is that while the premise isn't entirely original (it reminds me of the premise of Land of the Blindfolded and of a few other manga that I have read), it is interesting enough for me to keep reading.

UCHUU O KAKERU YODAKA Shoujo

This is a unique one, I was so glad that I stumble upon this shoujo because I'm pretty bored of the cliched ones. But this particular shoujo is about revenge. A girl who is jealous of the protagonist's life swamped bodies with her to steal her life. I can't wait to see more of this!

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Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it. I guess every superhero need her theme music...

I haven't had much time on hand, so this wraps up the second half of november and the december so far. Most of the titles were actually released in november because the december releases were mostly drama shoujos or student-teacher stuff. If you like those you can check them out, nothing caught my eye though, but of course that doesn't mean anything.

Logick - ?
This is now finished. I didn't put a demographic there because while it is a shoujo on this website, it is technically a webcomic because it was released online. This also has more in common with a slice-of-life seinen. I enjoyed this series a lot, it is a solid read with some character growth, different types of characters. You should probably read a few chapters because this is a unique kind of style (story, art and comedy) that you either like or don't like.

Aquarium (Hiro) - Seinen
Oh my. If I didn't know the translators I would have probably blamed bad translations, like really bad. I know this is a 4-koma but that doesn't mean that pacing is not needed. They jump constantly and randomly all over the place and even inside one block there are inconsistent parts. The jokes are not good, the art looks odd and overly simple at times, but that could be excused if there was some kind of coherent plot or even some kind of direction. There is none. People are often saying things for no reason at all. We get a colored(!) introduction into the shop when 95% of the manga is set inside the school building! The sad thing is that characters are portrayed so extremely superficial that you can only guess what the author wanted to go for (them being stereotypical helps in this regard). Sorry, but cuteness does not save this one when there is no depth.

Nakamura Koedo to Daizu Keisuke wa Umakuikanai - Shounen
Nothing to complain here. The comedy is simple, expected but it still works in a cute kind of way. Characters are ordinary but decent. I don't see a reason to continue talking about it - it is exactly what one would expect and the only possible gripe that comes to mind is that the "incidents" can get old over time. But people are still reading Tonari no Seki-kun, so probably not (if it is well executed at least). Keep this in mind if you like lighthearted things.

The New Gate - Shounen
I'll start with the bad things. LQ releases and it's another RPG world turned death game/turned real kind of thing with an OP protagonist and the usual stuff. If you have read World Customize Creator, this would be pretty close. I'd say it's fine so far but nothing really happened yet. If you don't like risks, wait until more of the world is explained and whether they actually handle a strong protagonist well or just fail. People seem to like the novel though. The romance department is a bit underdeveloped for now and honestly, I don't think it will get much better. This is just my personal feeling though.

Fudatsuki no Kyoko-chan - Shounen
A unique premise and a funny and cute read. The art is also simple but pretty. The whole triangle(?) stuff is a bit annoying but for now they have dealt with it just right. Just don't expect anything grand, it's a good read, but not mind-blowing. Treat it like any other slice-of-life comedy romance: read, enjoy, move on.

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu - Daisshou - Outo no Ichinichi Hen - Seinen
I absolutely LOVE the character design. The art is very nice, the characters are interesting (and cute) his actual ability(?) seems to be really awesome. The protagonist is very smooth (especially while talking to the girl) and level-headed even though he is not particularly capable in terms of combat. the comedy bits are nice and overall the characters and their interactions are compelling. The fantasy world so far is also well presented and it just felt good reading it. Do check this out, it looks very promising.

I wish everyone nice holidays.

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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

Status Update

And the the time has come for more things to come to an end. Both of them did not get featured here because they were not new enough at that time but now is he time to cover them I guess.

Itoshi no Karin - Seinen
A very cute series with pretty character design, nice characters, enough comedy and very satisfying moments. This starts out very heart-warming and gets more calm and realistic later on. It works slightly against what this series is, but it doesn't fall off that much. I'd say this series is like eating a sweet cookie first, then finishing with a good cup of coffee with some cream. It does not loose its charm along the way, and while it is slightly better in the beginning, it's a compelling read that shouldn't be missed by fans of the genre. I'd also recommend this, just because it is still something special, at least that's how I felt while reading it.

Bocchi na Bokura no Renai Jijou - Seinen
The premise is strange and it's not that the bickering "couple" type hasn't been done before , but as soon as you get into it and accept that, this is an incredible read. Some people might think: "oh tsundere stuff" - throw this notion out of the window. The reason they argue a lot is that both MCs are very direct. Yes they sometimes do or say stuff they shouldn't but they know that it's their fault. I'd like to emphasize the male MC. He often does pretty stupid things but he acknowledges that fact and the reason it takes time for him to solve that problem, is that he just does not have the experience on how to do that. He still solves those problems over time and actually spends time on thinking about it. It feels like watching people growing up and considering the length of that manga, that's an incredible feat. And those last two chapters are just absolute sweetness. Get over the first chapters and then enjoy this ride, I highly doubt that you will regret this.


It's always bad when good things come to an end, but at least this was a good way to end them

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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

Let's wrap up January.

Status update

And It Will Be Sunny - Josei
This one ended about a month ago. It shows the life of two sisters (and the daughter of one of them) with all the difficulties, and while it does not depicts a happy-go-lucky way of things, it is still very enjoyable. Things feel more real than forced and time progresses at a fast pace while still emphasizing the important things in those people's lives. A great manga about love and the importance and warmth of family.

Gaussian Blur - Webcomic
This one also came to an end about a month ago. It's an interesting one. The story is about two socially awkward people growing up, trying to become adults. Yeah, that's about it. Romance is like a side effect of everything that's happening, it's more about friendship and very strange conversations and generally people doing very strange things. I guess you would need to read a few chapters to find out if that is your cup of tea. Even though it was weird at times it felt very compelling and while the characters felt weird, they also felt human at the same time.

Releases - Part 1/2

Hiniiru - Seinen
Now this one looks interesting and promising. When most of the cast dies within the first chapter there is always this feeling of expectation. Apart from that it's probably your regular super-powered guy chasing after the kidnapped damsel in distress while he is a crybaby and she is like a badass genetically modified monster. I can dig that. Art style is nice and I expect the usual character progression, so this should be a solid pick. If they decide to go the serious route this may even surpass my expectations.

I'll get the rest of the releases up by tomorrow (about 8).

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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet

Releases Part 2/2

7 Jikanme no Onpu - Seinen
It's the new work by the author of Bocchi na Bokura no Renai Jijou, so the art style is the same. The feeling I got was that is was like a more safe version. This is about the dating life of a shy couple and while you get a feeling similar to the characters of the other manga, there is no real underlying conflict. A nice cute slice of life without anything that really stands out, but that doesn't need to be the case for it be be good. The perfect relaxing read before you go to bed when you don't want to think too hard about anything.

Koko Kara Saki wa NG! - Shoujo
"Wipe your own a** by yourself". When I read that line the manga pretty much got me. As you can probably tell from this, it is a weird manga, the girl doesn't like surprises and boys while getting transferred into a class full of them (duh, as if that hasn't been done before), but every character so far seems to be very refreshing and the jokes are more often than not spot on. I fear for some triangle stuff later on but who knows. If they stay quirky and weird this mnaga may very well keep that nice atmosphere it got going in the first chapter. I can see people enjoy this that are not particularly into shoujo, but that really depends on how they go with the story within the next few chapters.

Mou I-yo
This one didn't get any translations for almost 2 years so I thought I could cover this. Warning. There is a lot of text here like really a lot. There characters are distinct, while not very special, they do their job. The art style is very nice even though it is so overloaded. The series definitely has its charm and I can see the appeal of the episodic nature with those "supernatural" phenomena. You can try this for one chapter and see if you like this, because they probably won't change the fomula. It's solid.

Melancholy World - Josei
I'd suggest to either read the prologue and wait for more to come out before you start or just skip it, because the level is just so much higher. While the characters and the things that happen are very interesting, the emotional depth of the prologue is not achieved through the following chapters. A very good art style and a deep and more dark story make this very compelling. I'd wait, but you could also just give it a bash now and decide whether you follow it or forget it.

Monku no Tsukeyou ga Nai Rabukome - ?
I actually did read that accidentally... In theory that sounded okay, but the characters were just so unrelatable and a loli god that is cold but very embarrassed as soon as the lead makes any "advances"? You can argue that it is carried by the art style but that's not enough for me at least. This probably could get better later on but at the moment there is zero content except for some kind of "romance shounen power fantasy" - he even gets a loli god to marry him! I don't know the novel but the first chapter was disappointing (and short). I'd let pretty much anything slide that happens in prologues, but as a first chapter, this was nothing.


I have to admit that the other releases didn't look that interesting to me, so I'll just list them:
Nageki no Marie -Shoujo
Love x Joint - Shoujo
Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Naka de - Shounen

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in need of romance?
uncommon, sad, sweet