Konbanwa! Turtle-chan here with a manga recommendation for all you reader-sans! So over the past several days, a poor, clueless, nerdy, socially awkward, younger male acquaintance of mine has been (constantly...) texting me for relationship advice. Despite the fact that I've only been in three relationships and I'm not really sure if I should even count them because they were so strange, abnormal, and completely lacking in any sort of genuine affection whatsoever... Anyway, I am currently not in a romantic relationship (unless you count dark chocolate and the internet) and I have little if any desire to be in one again any time soon because it's way less stressful being a hot single lady. However, I will admit that I love reading shojo manga. Actually, I prefer manga to anime anyway, but shojo is always better in manga form.
So, since all I've done for three days straight (and still going strong!) is talk about love, I picked a manga series I started a while ago back up. It's called Mars, if you've ever heard of it. It's a Tokyopop manga, which is awesome in and of itself. I love the art style of the manga Tokyopop generally publishes. I'm kind of a sucker for '90s style manga art anyway, though. But art style aside, the story is really sweet and interesting. Yes, it's pretty predictable, but isn't that what we love about shojo? Seriously, though, this one isn't for the completely faint of heart. It gets way deep into the dark side of life, the side that usually isn't introduced into shojo manga. They go into topics like rape, sexual abuse, racing culture, amputation, death, suicide, murder, mental illness, neglect, criminal activity, etcetera. Deep stuff. But I felt like actually acknowledging that bad things do happen made this manga better than others like it.
So here's a brief synopsis: Rei Kasahino is a girl-crazy motorcycle racer. Kira Aso is a shy girl who aspires to be an artist. Through some strange twist of fate, the two end up together and the fourteen volumes follow all of their trials and tribulations to whatever end awaits them. Along the way, there are a few villains introduced to break the couple up and cause more conflict. Some of the villains are unexpected and some are not. ***** WARNING: THERE IS A SEX SCENE BUT IT'S NOT VERY GRAPHIC *****
Like I said before, the story is really good and even though it's largely predictable, the mangaka through in some curveballs that I completely did not see coming. And of course, the art style is great. The pairing seems really weird at first, but by the time you get a volume or two in, you can't imagine it being any other way. Really, I liked this series a lot. I will say, though, that if this is your first time reading manga, shojo in particular, I'd read another series first and then pick this up. It could turn new readers off because of all the darkness. If you want a good shojo series to read, I've done a post about it before, but for first-timers, I'd recommend the following because they're cute, light, and funny:
- Ouran High School Host Club <--- comedy at it's finest! Also, reverse harem and cosplay/crossdressing.
- Kaichou wa Maid-sama <--- tsundere girl with cute, protective boy!
- High School Debut <--- this was my first! It's so cute and the art style is really different!
- Gakuen Alice <--- kids with powers. Only a little romance.
- From Far Away <--- okay, I almost hesitate to put this on this list but... It's just so good! One of my favorites. Lots of fighting and a few demons, but it's really sweet.
- La Corda d'Oro <--- classical music and reverse harems! Yay! Ave Maria has a special place in my heart now.
- I am Here! <--- shy girl gets friends because of a boy. I almost named my blog after hers.
- Skip-Beat! <--- LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!! It's still ongoing and it's perfect! I'm like a significantly less extreme Kyoko! Also, Ren Tsuruga. 'Nuff said!
- Inuyasha <--- maybe... it's not super romance-y as far as I've read at this point... A lot of female nudity, though...
I have others that I love, but I looked through what I jokingly call my "Otaku" list in which I have written down every manga I've read and anime I've watched and most of the shojo that I really like have been a little dark. My absolute favorite hands down is Dengeki Daisy, which is about a hacker and a high school girl (don't worry, the guy is only like 24 or something close to that I believe). It is by far the sweetest thing I've ever read. I mean, seriously, if there are guys like Kurosaki out there I need to find one! Okay, that fangirl rant is over; time for a new one! Another really good one is Library Wars: Love and War which may also be a little iffy for first-timers. It's definitely shojo, but there are a lot of fight scenes because it's a soldier (well, they're kind of soldiers...) love story. I also love the male lead in this one. Umm... Hmm... I guess I just like the strong, silent type/ whatever-the-heck-Kurosaki-is type... Oh well, I have so many anime/ manga crushes I've lost count. Oh, that could be a fun post! That may be in your future, reader-sans, and then you can see just how weird I am!
Anyway, I've noticed I'm rambling now, so that probably means I'm too tired to be behind the keyboard. I'll spare you all by stopping myself now. Goodnight/morning, reader-sans! I shall hopefully return unless my young acquaintance drives me to complete insanity!
- Turtle-chan
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