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I read lots and lots of manga. I've decided to do some recommendations and reviews on some of the manga I'm currently reading maybe once a week or every other week. Most of my interest lies in romance so a good deal of these series will be shoujoai. I will let you know before the LJ cut what the series is about theme wise. I'll also be going a bit into plot with each entry just because I don't think it's possible to give a sense of the series if you don't.
First off, if you want you can read Kimi ni Todoke at the link I just provided at One Manga. However, since it is awesome please consider buying your own copy of the manga which is currently being released from Viz.
The main character is a girl named Sawako Kuronama who has the nickname Sadako because of her resemblance to the character from The Ring. She's very pale, has long black hair, and exudes a scary aura. Despite this, she's actually a very sweet and shy girl. She tries to do at least one good thing every day and always does her best to interact with her classmates in a friendly manner only to fail as they're all frightened of her due to her appearance.
The only person who isn't scared of Sawako is Shota Kazehaya who is the most popular boy in their class. He's friendly, nice to everyone, and extremely outgoing. All around good guy. They meet briefly on the first day of school when he's lost and Sawako directs him towards their high school. Instead of being scared of her, he smiles brightly and thanks her before running off.
As the manga goes on, Kazehaya interacts more and more with Sawako who admires him for how well liked he is and truly nice he is. She feels that he is the nicest person she has ever known because of how he never fails to acknowledge other people and is sensitive towards them. He overhears Sawako talking to a classmate from junior high about him and rather than simply take what she said as a misunderstanding he asks her about it. Upon explanation, he discovers how nice Sawako finds him and admits with a blush that he admires her for all the things she does for the class.
One by one he notes all the chores Sawako does in order to keep her classmates happy and in an attempt to get them to be less frightened of her. They slowly begin to form a friendship that leads Sawako to bond with others in their class including two girls, Yano and Yoshida, whom Sawako gets close to with after she overhears them contemplating asking her to pretend to be a ghost during a haunted hike the class is taking. Sawako volunteers but confesses she can't see ghosts or any of the other supernatural rumors surrounding her. Yano and Yoshida react by breaking out into laughter and after that point they start to forge a friendship with Sawako.
Yano and Yoshida have typical character designs where Yano is set up like the schoolgirl seductress and Yoshida a girl gang member. Personally, I crush on Yoshida a bit and I sort of love the idea of them a couple but there's no hints of it in the series. Yoshida endears herself to me because whenever Sawako is being typically earnest, such as baking them cookies as a gift of thanks, she bursts into tears because she's so moved by it.
Later in the first volume, we're introduced to Ryu Sanada, a member of the baseball team, who also isn't phased by Sawako's scary atmosphere. He's a serious and off in his own world and Sawako reveals when she pretended to be a ghost, he was the only one not frightened by her performance.
Sawako is a wonderful protagonist for this manga, she's a genuinely sweet character and is terribly lovable. It's a joy to watch as she makes friendships for the first time and is able to have real human interactions. The moments she has with Kazehaya are equally sweet and lovable. Watching their relationship grow and seeing things from Kazehaya's viewpoint just further cements the reader's attachment to them as a developing couple.
Kazehaya is a constant throughout the manga, he's always there for Sawako, encouraging her to create relationships with others in their class while deepening the one he has with her. What is best about him and Sawako is that even though they're such honestly good people they're not obnoxiously so. There's a gentle aura about their relationship that draws you in but it is fluffy all the same.
The romance in this manga is slow going but the pace is fitting for a character like Sawako who is experiencing a lot of emotional firsts in the pages. If you're someone who likes shoujoai and sweet romance I'd read this. The main characters are all very charming and so is the artwork.
First off, if you want you can read Kimi ni Todoke at the link I just provided at One Manga. However, since it is awesome please consider buying your own copy of the manga which is currently being released from Viz.
The main character is a girl named Sawako Kuronama who has the nickname Sadako because of her resemblance to the character from The Ring. She's very pale, has long black hair, and exudes a scary aura. Despite this, she's actually a very sweet and shy girl. She tries to do at least one good thing every day and always does her best to interact with her classmates in a friendly manner only to fail as they're all frightened of her due to her appearance.
The only person who isn't scared of Sawako is Shota Kazehaya who is the most popular boy in their class. He's friendly, nice to everyone, and extremely outgoing. All around good guy. They meet briefly on the first day of school when he's lost and Sawako directs him towards their high school. Instead of being scared of her, he smiles brightly and thanks her before running off.
As the manga goes on, Kazehaya interacts more and more with Sawako who admires him for how well liked he is and truly nice he is. She feels that he is the nicest person she has ever known because of how he never fails to acknowledge other people and is sensitive towards them. He overhears Sawako talking to a classmate from junior high about him and rather than simply take what she said as a misunderstanding he asks her about it. Upon explanation, he discovers how nice Sawako finds him and admits with a blush that he admires her for all the things she does for the class.
One by one he notes all the chores Sawako does in order to keep her classmates happy and in an attempt to get them to be less frightened of her. They slowly begin to form a friendship that leads Sawako to bond with others in their class including two girls, Yano and Yoshida, whom Sawako gets close to with after she overhears them contemplating asking her to pretend to be a ghost during a haunted hike the class is taking. Sawako volunteers but confesses she can't see ghosts or any of the other supernatural rumors surrounding her. Yano and Yoshida react by breaking out into laughter and after that point they start to forge a friendship with Sawako.
Yano and Yoshida have typical character designs where Yano is set up like the schoolgirl seductress and Yoshida a girl gang member. Personally, I crush on Yoshida a bit and I sort of love the idea of them a couple but there's no hints of it in the series. Yoshida endears herself to me because whenever Sawako is being typically earnest, such as baking them cookies as a gift of thanks, she bursts into tears because she's so moved by it.
Later in the first volume, we're introduced to Ryu Sanada, a member of the baseball team, who also isn't phased by Sawako's scary atmosphere. He's a serious and off in his own world and Sawako reveals when she pretended to be a ghost, he was the only one not frightened by her performance.
Sawako is a wonderful protagonist for this manga, she's a genuinely sweet character and is terribly lovable. It's a joy to watch as she makes friendships for the first time and is able to have real human interactions. The moments she has with Kazehaya are equally sweet and lovable. Watching their relationship grow and seeing things from Kazehaya's viewpoint just further cements the reader's attachment to them as a developing couple.
Kazehaya is a constant throughout the manga, he's always there for Sawako, encouraging her to create relationships with others in their class while deepening the one he has with her. What is best about him and Sawako is that even though they're such honestly good people they're not obnoxiously so. There's a gentle aura about their relationship that draws you in but it is fluffy all the same.
The romance in this manga is slow going but the pace is fitting for a character like Sawako who is experiencing a lot of emotional firsts in the pages. If you're someone who likes shoujoai and sweet romance I'd read this. The main characters are all very charming and so is the artwork.