4 Mangas for Shoujo Newbs

Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime,
first volume

Do you have a friend who's new to shoujo manga or has shunned the genre because of some really bad titles? Then I will be showing you an extremely short list as a starter point for you guys.  I mean if I gave you my current reading list (about more than 100 mangas) you would be overwhelmed.

I really wished someone had given me a good starting manga. Not that classics such as Hana Kimi  or Fruits Basket are bad but there are some crazy premises that would deter the average person away.

Otome Plays: Nameless - A Cat Named John (Lance Route)

So here's the next episode of Nameless gameplay. This will be the last of the common route and we'll finally be getting to the main story (when things get juicy). Replaying this for me reminded me how tsundere/kuudere he is and it's totally cute. I personally think he's 60% tsundere and 30% kuudere.

Manga Review: Toukyou Lastochika

Name: Toukyou Lastochika
Author & Artist: MIYOSHI Furumachi
Chapters: 12 (approx.)  - Completed
Genres: Comedy, Historical, Romance, Shoujo, Slice Of Life, Tragedy
Plot:

In 1910, Hana Tsumura is hired to work as a servant for the Arima estate, throwing her into a turbulent whirlpool produced by the changing times and her meeting with Mitsuyuki, the young master of the household.

Review:
Recently, I bought this on Renta, a paid, online manga service in English since when I saw this, I had to buy it. I read this awhile ago but was hopelessly waiting for scanalations to pull through. Though I'm really happy to legally obtain it since it was such a good manga. It cost me about $8.64 USD so not too bad for 2 volumes of manga and I might make a post about my experience with Renta if anyone is interested.

I love historical manga, this being set in the Meiji era, had me intrigued from start to finish. It's a battle of social classes and the inevitability of how the two main characters were never meant to be. 

Otome Plays: Nameless - Banjul (Lance Route)

Next chapter of the common route, aiming for Lance, is here. Things will get more interesting soon. 

Manga Review: Help!!

Name: Help!!
Author & Artist: Fujiwara Kiyo
Chapters: 7 - Complete
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo
Plot:

Kousaka Shin's ultimate dream is to become a doctor. So despite the facts that she is a cry baby, a coward, has a baby face, and only has an A cup--she is much more passionate about persuing her goals than others. One day her teacher, Abe-sensei, tells her she is not fit to be a doctor. From then on, a battle between them begins. There's an added twist! Abe-sensei and Shin are neighbors! Now, her journey to becoming a doctor will be even more difficult than imagined!

Review:
I have a week off from university so I will probably be posting a little more this week.  Anyways, the plot doesn't sound too contrived but I was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the story actually is.

The main character, Kousaka is your typical babbling klutz who somehow wants to become a doctor (I think the description makes her sound more annoying than she actually is). Despite all this, she actually pulls through and whenever a situation arises, she steps up and earnestly tries to do her best. This is why her character is tolerable and I grew to really like her towards the end.

Otome Plays: Nameless - New Routine (Lance Route)

So from keeping this blog from becoming too redundant, I'll post updates as whole chapters finish. I recently finished the first chapter of the common route in which I aimed to get Lance, enjoy the videos ^^

"Shoujo Sucks"

Kako from Mishounen Produce
understands my feels.

Here we go, the common thing you hear from people who don't like shoujo, it's because it "sucks". I have to admit there are a lot of bad shoujo mangas but the same thing could be said about shounen, yaoi or anime in all honesty. I know I love to bag shoujo a whole lot but it's more or less a love-hate relationship.

When I see people say the whole genre sucks, it's usually for the following reasons:

• Art sucks/ eyes are way too big
  I get if art sucks if things aren't too in proportion or positioning of their features are weird. Though it's quite a contradiction to say their "eyes are too big" as anime and manga eyes are considered big to outsiders. Art is subjective and just because you've seen a few eighties-esque eyes doesn't mean all shoujo mangakas draw saucer plate eyes. If you judge a manga/anime based whether it's a 10 or not, you're are missing out. Though I do have my favourite mangakas in terms of art so check out that post.

• Bishies, men don't act like this in real life
  I think I can write a whole individual post on bishounens alone and in fact, I'll make it a future post. Bishies represent a teen's ideals in the most hyperbolic way in much the same way as moe girls in shounen or even some men's ideals on bust size in H mangas/anime. We don't expect men or teenage boys to act like this, look like this or be like this in real life. They don't have to be the definition of perfection but can you let a girl fantasize?

• Romance/Characters/Storyline is dumb and unrealistic
  I've said this before and I'll say it again, when your manga is being post in something like LaLa magazine, do you really think there is going to be anything too deep and meaningful? The demographic  puts many potential story ideas out the window (you got editors) and shoujo is such a niche market already.
  
  If you're reading a psychological manga you take the story quite seriously, that's a given. So if the story doesn't live up to you expectations, like having a ridiculous story line then that's a valid complaint.
  If you read a horror, fantasy or even a comedic manga the author expects you to "suspend disbelief" and go along with the premise instead of proclaiming their work to be an unrealistic portrayal of romance/people. It's not meant to be taken that seriously.
  
  The same principles apply to shoujo. If you come in with the expectation for it to be a masterpiece you will be disappointed. Realise the intention and target audience and appreciate it for what it is. You're allowed to hate some manga series but don't let it stop you from enjoying some silly titles every now and then.

All in all, shoujo is a pretty ridiculous genre full of exaggerated caricatures and ideals, not meant to be taken seriously but for fun. Not to say that there aren't some amazing titles out there. My top 5 list has some of my favs plus I will be posting another Top list of some mangas for non-shoujo lovers to try out so stay tuned.

So do you like a lover, hater, neutral to shoujo? Or are you just like me, it's a love-hate thing.

Otome Plays: Seifuku no ojisama, Games with old men?

Name: Seifuku no ojisama
Developer: Poppyseed Otome

Overview:
Alright, I know this really deviates from manga reviews and I'm not actually playing this since it's all still in Japanese. So while I was browsing through the Google Play Store, I found this otome game unlike any other. The reverse harem consisted of middle aged to old men. Well, mature to be exact.

To be honest, as odd as it really is, I shouldn't be judging. Anime and manga do cater for some weird fetishes and niches. One of the first mangas I really got into had weird brother complexes and pervy hot guys but I got through it and accepted manga for it's wackiness.

Though I get the demographic is supposedly Josei, the girl looks like a fetus next to one of the old men, seriously. This makes me feel really uncomfortable, age gaps are alright but the man shouldn't be old enough to be your father. Ionno what he's saying but it's probably like "well you coulds be duh ages of my daughter but ohhh wells".

There's one character who look older than the main character but not old enough to be her father. It reminds me of a manga called Lip Smoke where a high school girl falls in love with a middle aged man. Even though this sort of rubs me the wrong way, I'm curious and intrigued and I want to play it.  Yeah I know I'm rambling and being weird but I wanted to see if anyone else feels the same way. 

Anyway I'll leave you with a video and you can be the judge.

Yeah idk.

Jiji, old man otaku, from Kuragehime approves