Manga: Aishiteruze Baby Vol. 2

 

Aishiteruze Baby

Warning: This document contains spoilers!

Story: 8
In this volume Kippei continues to take care for Yuzuyu, however when he tries to combine that with starting a serious relationship with Kokoro, he forgets to make Yuzuyu lunch or to collect her from school. Yuzu feels that she has become a burden to Kippei and decides she is going to take care of herself from now on. She tries to walk home by herself but she ends up being lost.

I find this volume as strong as the first. It continues on the same serious tone. This time there aren’t negative influences from the outside, but it is all about Yuzu’s insecurities to lose Kippei to someone else. Kokoro plays a bigger part in this volume then in the last and more of her background is revealed.

A fun bonus is an extra chapter where the readers see Kippei when he was Yuzuyu’s age just before his brother was born, and how he too was afraid to lose his place to his brother. The selfish feelings from the 5 year olds come across as very realistic.

Art: 8.5
The artwork stays of the same quality as volume 1. In my opinion Yoko Maki manages to get the emotions of the characters across to the reader. Further I don’t have anything to add in order not to repeat myself.

Characters: 8
Yuzu gets a letter from her mother and therefore she is reminded how much she misses her. Now there is the chance that Yuzuyu has to share his attention with Kokoro, and Kippei keeps making mistakes in taking care for her, Yuzu feels she has become a burden. She wants to be a big girl so that Kippei doesn’t have to worry about her and can spend more time with Kokoro. However since she can’t make it home alone from school, she only ends up worrying Kippei and the others more.

This volume concentrates more on Kokoro. The reader gets to see a part of her past. Also the relationship between her and Kippei develops in this series; however they both realize that Yuzuyu needs Kippei the most right now and they break up again.

Volume 2 wasn’t as endearing is the previous one. It is clear that Kippei finally is ready for a serious relationship, however it is hard to combine this with the care Yuzuyu needs. I, as reader, could clearly feel how he wants both and tries to juggle to get it, but ends up needing to give up his wishes for Yuzuyu. It also comes across how hard Kippei finds this to do.

In the end of the volume Yuzu’s mother pops up, but there isn’t much revealed about her yet, except what she writes in her letter to Yuzuyu.

Overall: 8
This volume continues on the same level of quality then the previous one. I still enjoyed the story very much, however I liked the previous volume a tad better, and that is why I rated this one a bit lower. But it is still a great series and I’m looking forward to buy volume 3!

April 9, 2008 :: Drama, Manga, Romance, Shojo :: No Comments »

Manga: Aishiteruze Baby vol.1

 Aishiteruze baby v.01

Story: 8.5
Kippei Katakura is notorious for his playboy behavior around girls. He spends time playing around and takes nothing in life seriously. But when his 5 year old cousin Yuzuyu comes to stay in his house and Kippei is appointed to take care of her, his life changes in a drastic way.

The story is quite serious and endearing. It doesn’t shy away from taboos like bullying or stealing. It is also cute to see how Kippei struggles with his daily things, like how to make bento’s for Yuzuyu and how he has to combine the care for her with his high school life. It is a story that grasps you instantly because it is all done in a very realistic way.

Art: 8.5
The artwork is really gorgeous. Everything is drawn in a cute way but still realistic. I really liked the background panels filled with cute things like strawberries and flowers the enchant Yuzu’s cuteness. They also used darker panels for the lesser moments in the manga, like when Yuzuyu gets bullied. This adds to the whole atmosphere of the story. In short: Cute character designs, realistic and matching background panels, make this manga eye catching.

Character development: 8
The characters are very loveable almost right from the start. Especially the little Yuzuyu is really adorable. She refers to herself as Yuzu which is really cute. Kippei on the other hand comes across as shallow in the beginning, but in the course of the story, Kippei starts to care for Yuzuyu and he tries his best not to disappoint her, even if this is in his own clumsy way. Of course the bond between Kippei and little Yuzu grows stronger over time and in the progress Kippei manages to gain the respect of a classmate Kokoro, who disrespected him at first for his carefree behavior.

There are several side characters that play minor parts in the story, like Kippei’s family. He has an older rowdy sister, who seems to run the family but is actually really kind at heart, and a younger brother who is much more mature then Kippei. There are also some kids from high school or kindergarten who give Kippei and Yuzu a hard time.

Overall: 8.5
This is one of the better shojo manga out there. It actually has a realistic story that differs from the majority of this genre. It really drew my attention and I had to finish it in one go.  The artwork is awesome, it has a realistic story and the characters are very lovable. What more would you want?

March 25, 2008 :: Drama, Manga, Romance, Shojo :: No Comments »

Manga: Sunadokei (The sand Chronicles) vol. 1

Sunadokei vol 1

Warning: This document contains spoilers

Story: 7
Sunadokei (hourglass) is about a girl, Ann, who remembers the life she leads when she was younger. She came to live in a remote village with her grandparents and has to make new friends there. She has some hard times but she manages. There is a chapter when she is 12 years old and a chapter when she is 14 years old. A friendship starts between her and Daigo, the male lead. When Daigo helps Ann through some rough times, Ann, realizes she loves Daigo. The main focus is on the relationship between Ann and Daigo, however there is also Fuji who likes Ann too. And there the classical love triangle is born. However for a Shojo romance it has a deep dramatic story behind the surface.

Art: 5.5
The art is like any typical Shojo manga, cute with some sparkles here and there to enchant things. While eyes are the stronger point of this mangaka (all though even sometimes the eyes are a bit off) mouths seem to be her weak point. Sometimes moths are drawn just plain ugly, too big or too thick lined. Sometimes body proportions are kinda off as well. It is not really the best drawing I have seen.

Character development: 6
As stated before part one of the manga focuses mainly on the relationship between Ann and Daigo. You see how they become friends, and slowly develop into more. There is the regular turning and twisting and the female rival also comes along.

In addition there are some scenes between Ann and Fuji where you can see clearly the one-sided love from him towards Ann. You see how he is hurt by it since he also knows Ann loves Daigo.

The characters themselves don’t seem to grow that much yet, except from the innocent youth to puberty and things get a bit awkward.. All though some events happen to keep the story going, I didn’t notice much change between the 12 year old characters and the 14 year old ones. But it might be that is for later in the other volumes.

Overall: 6
I don’t dislike this manga, it is kind of interesting and endearing, yet the far from perfect artwork throws me out of it. It prevents me from really getting into the story, I keep thinking: “Hmm.. that angle is off or that mouth is so unnatural.” It really meddled with my reading pleasure therefore I do not know if I will be reading all of this manga. I might give it another volume but the story must make up then what the art lacks, or the art must have improved by then. All in all I think this is just a manga for true Shojo fans.

March 8, 2008 :: Drama, Manga, Romance, Shojo :: No Comments »