#bloup review

[blouptalking]

You’re My Cutie

Kawaii Nante Kiitenai

Harufuji Nakaba

romance, comedy, slice of life,

6 volumes (ongoing)

“Madoka is obsessed with shojo manga—specifically manga that features younger, innocent guys who fall for their Sempai. So she should be thrilled when a gorgeous kohai comes to work at her father's restaurant...except he's rude and standoffish, and wants nothing to do with her. But when she protects him from some extra-pushy fans, he finds that maybe he's found someone letting his walls down for...!”

(resume from Kodansha USA)

Story: 6/10

Kicked my feet and screamed into my pillow multiple times. I've certified it a good romance, you can trust me. I love how Madoka sometimes acts as a male love interest would be in other romance manga with Momoki. Also the fact that they only see each other at work and not in school adds something to the story, it makes their interaction more interesting.

Cast: 8/10

I keep writing these reviews, and I think I should change "cast" to "couple". I noticed that authors don't really focus on the background characters and mostly focus about the main couple but yes, very good characters. The two of them go so well together. I was taken aback by Momiki's personality. I was not expecting a tsundere. I usually hate it, but it's not toxic or boring with him, it's even sweet.

Art: 6/10

Super pretty art. Maybe a little bit simple and can get messy at some point but it’s nothing unsettling

Enjoyment: 9/10

Probably one of my favorite romance, I feel like I say that a lot but this one is really good. It feels so new and refreshing. It is different from other stories, but at the same time it follows the basic patterns of how to make a good shojo. Certainly recommend it.

Overall: 7/10

[blouptalking]

To Say the Least, This is Love

Hikaeme ni Itte mo Kore wa Ai / Love! That’s an Understatement

Fujimomo

comedy, romance, school life

9 chapters (ongoing)

“One day, a serious student named Risa, saves a wounded delinquent on her way home from cram school. Now, that delinquent Zen is following her around!! What will she do?”

(resume from Baka-Update Manga)

Story: 6/10

Why does Shojo have such a rapid rhythm these days? I really like when a story is well paced, especially when it's about romance, I think it's hard to find the right mix. The period during which the characters still flirt should not be too long nor too short, and there should still be things to explore and see once they start dating. Sadly, I feel like recent shojos tend to just completely skip the flirting part and make the two characters go out before the fifth chapter. Anyway, I had high expectations for this manga, same as “Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki”, but I was not really sure because I got a little bit disappointed with this manga. Well, for this one, it completely met all of my expectations, it’s even better than what I imagined it. The bad boy trope with the fight scenes and everything else doesn’t feel cringe at all. I was a little worried about this part of the story, but it's actually pretty "realistic" and not exaggerated, so this is really great! The one thing I could criticize is the speed at which this manga is. There are only nine chapters translated but I get the impression that everything went so fast between Risa and Zen.

Cast: 8/10

I have an indescribable love for Risa. I really like her personality. I love it when a character is down to earth and intelligent without exaggeration. Zen is also a great love interest. They go very well with each other. I wish we could see more of the supporting cast in future chapters, it would be fun.

Art: 8/10

The first thing I noticed about this manga, before even reading it, was the color pages and the color palette used. It is pleasant and very beautiful.

Enjoyment: 9/10

I really liked the story. l didn't expect that. I was afraid that the bad boy trope would be boring and cringe, but Zen is the perfect example of a good bad boy love interest. I think what got me to like the story even more is really Risa. She really left me speechless, she's such an amazing character. Anyhow, I would have given a 10/10 but like I said, the story is too fast. I have the impression that many things could have lasted longer, but it was still very amusing.

Overall: 9/10

[blouptalking]

Kowloon Generic Romance

Mayuzuki Jun

54 chapters (ongoing)

drama, slice of life, romance

“Welcome to Kowloon Walled City: a dystopian townscape where the people are brimming with nostalgia, and where the past, present, and future converge. Amid the hidden emotions and extraordinary daily lives of the men and women working in its confines, a tale of romance begins to unfold for real estate agent Reiko Kujirai—one that feels as familiar as Kowloon itself…”

(Resume from Yen Press)

Story: 9/10

The more you read, the more the tale and the mysteries begin to make sense. I was rather confused at first, especially since I started reading Kowloon Generic Romance without any knowledge about the plot in advance. But I think that's what got me interested in the story and what got me hooked. I thought it would be a kind of slow-burn romance, but I was surprisingly wrong. Though, the more I got in the story the more I felt like the romance was really secondary. The manga is still in ongoing so I'm certainly going to keep reading it.

Cast: 7/10

Strong and memorable cast. Each character has its own charm and I really enjoyed reading about them and their stories. For the two MCs Reiko and Hajime, personally, I was not under the impression that they were a good match. Their relationship hasn't affected me as much as I anticipated. I guess that's because I had the impression that the romance wasn't the main focus of the story. At one point, I even felt bored by their romance because I felt like it was blocking Reiko from growing up and developing her own character.

Art: 9/10

Beautiful art! As expected from Mayuzuki Jun. I had a great time watching After The Rain in 2018, and it’s probably one of my favorite slice of life. I was very pleased to find this lovely art style in Kowloon Generic Romance.

This is what I would also call a “windy” art style. Everything just feels very refreshing. The background is very detailed as well and it helps you get into that dystopian mood somehow.

Enjoyment: 8/10

I really enjoyed reading Kowloon Generic Romance. It was very interesting and I never had any boredom. I would recommend reading it without knowing anything about the plot to truly grasp the vibe and have the mystery's surprise.

Overall: 8/10

[blouptalking]

Happiness

Shuuzou Oshimi

10 volumes (completed)

drama, horror, supernatural, vampires

TW: gore, blood, dead bodies, torture

“Nothing interesting in happening in Makoto Ozaki’s first year of high school. His life is a series of quiet humiliations: low-grade bullies, unreliable friends, and the constant frustration of his adolescent lust. But one night, a pale, thin girl knocks him to the ground in an alley and offers him a choice. Now everything is different. Daylight is searingly bright. Food tastes awful. And worse than anything is the terrible, consuming thirst. The tiny shames of his old life have been replaced by two towering horrors: the truth of what will slake his awful craving and high school itself.”

(source: Kodansha USA)

Story: 8/10

Happiness had a great beginning. The first five volumes were very exciting, however, everything collapsed with volume six. We leave volume five with a massive cliffhanger and you're like omg what's going to happen now?!? but then you get to the next chapter and there’s a weird ten years time skip out of nowhere. The whole volume six focuses on this time skip and we have the feeling to read a whole new story. There's also this new character that's being introduced, but holy shit, what a useless, boring man. Afterwards, it gets a little weird but better. The ending's not so great, but I'm not surprised. I noticed that in these types of stories it’s very difficult to create a good ending that would please the reader and answer all the questions. So I didn’t get any hopes up, it was ok-ish I’ll say. Overall the story is good but there’s a lot of missing elements and the story line feels messy.

Cast: 6/10

Not a single mentally stable person in this entire cast. I really liked the characters, they were all very interesting (aside from Sudo). Nora was supposed to be one of the main characters, but she was missing from the story and I felt the same way about Okazaki. It seems to me that the real main character was Gosho, which is weird because in the story she's just some random girl that got caught up in some vampire drama. Anyway, the cast is fine. The antagonist is more than just mean or evil, this man is straight up the devil. He has no real reason for all the awful things he did, that kind of baffled me.

Art: 10/10

Amazing, beautiful, show stopping, spectacular. The way the mangaka is able to draw the thoughts and feelings of his characters in each pages is amazing. We really can feel and see the pain and how much they struggle. The multiple references to Van Gogh's Starry Night are also amazing.

Enjoyment: 5/10

I received the first two volumes as a gift a few years ago and I finally decided to read the manga yesterday evening. I liked it so much that I ended up reading the scans, but I feel like I got my hopes up a little bit too much. Like I said, it all goes down after volume five and the end didn't satisfy me enough for me to give it more than 5/10.

Overall: 6/10

[blouptalking]

In The Clear Moonlit Dusk

Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki

Mika Yamamori

romance, school life

22 chapters (ongoing)

“Yoi Takiguchi has long legs, a deep voice, and a handsome face…in other words, Yoi is such a good-looking guy that most people don’t notice or care that she is, in fact, a girl. Indeed, she’s had the nickname “Prince” as long as she can remember. That is, until she met Ichimura-senpai…the only person who’s really seemed to see her for herself. To her surprise, she’s not sure how to handle this new relationship, especially when her newfound friend is a prince himself (and a guy prince, at that).”

(resume from Kodansha USA)

Story: 7/10

This is a very original story. Being unlike other shojo female characters is innovative in one sense. I'm not that good with shojos yet, so I'm not really sure, but Yoi is the first one with an androgynous appearance (for me). Oddly enough, I really liked it. I think i’m going to search for more stories with the same trope. The story itself is very fast, and I personally appreciate that but it was perhaps a bit too fast.

Cast: 6/10

Yoi is a very interesting character, she is adorable but I did not really expect this sort of personality. I think the mangaka could have used the fact that she is androgynous and often mistaken with a boy to make her personality something more original. She is quite basic and plain. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but in this case, it might have been fun to change some of her personality traits, which we have already seen so many times in the shojo. I really enjoy her relationship with Ichimura, he's very thoughtful and patient with Yoi, it's adorable.

Art: 8/10

Beautiful art, this is the first manga I read of Mika Yamamori so I wasn't really sure what to expect but I'm happy. What I could criticize is that sometimes some panel feel very repetitive. There are many pages where you can only see their eyes or their faces staring at each other. It's super pretty and romantic, but it sounded repetitive to me.

Enjoyment: 6/10

I was not disappointed because I really liked reading In the Clear Moonlit Dusk but I think the people around hyped me too much about this manga. People have sold me this manga as “super unique” and “not your typical romantic manga, because the MC is not your everyday shojo daughter”. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if no one had given me their opinion on it beforehand.

Overall: 7/10

[blouptalking]

Blue Phobia

Tsuruyoshi Eri

18 chapters (completed)

action, supernatural, psychological, horror

“Numerous prisoners were sent to mine a mysterious ore which lies underneath a certain island in the middle of an ocean, but after some time turns out there's something strange about the ore. The more you touch it the more it changes your skin and bones into a blue-ish color, and in the end, your entire body will turn into a strange ore.

The people who sent the prisoners, set up a research facility to do various experiments on them and treated them like test subjects.

The story starts when one of the researchers Kai, tries to help one of the patients escape.”

(Source: AniList)

Story: 8/10

This was a really good story. I love this type of setting, where the protagonists are in a laboratory/ prison type of place and the antagonist is always somewhat linked to the government. I don’t really know if there’s a name for this genre, but I enjoy it a lot. It made me think of Shokuryou Jinrou in a way. Although I got the impression that the end was a bit rushed, it was still pleasant.

Art: 8/10

The art was really pretty!! Everything looked really clean and the background was also detailed which is a good point. The monsters were creepy and made me uneasy, I really enjoyed that!

Cast: 6/10

The story and the art were good and I loved them a lot, but the casting was not up to the expectations. The main character was okay-ish but the female protagonist? She was literally absent from the story. She was useless in a way, that is very sad because she could have contributed so much to the plot. Unfortunately, the protagonist overshadows her.

Enjoyment: 7/10

It was a very good read. I feel like the ending was hastily. It seems that the mangaka was planning to release more chapters, but it got canceled. At some point we get this interesting character with a charadesign that might belong to the main cast but he ends up never speaking? When I first saw him I really thought he would join the protagonist but absolutely not. There are a lot of little details like that that make me think that the author must have written the ending very quickly and it's really sad. With a few more volumes this manga would have been 10/10.

Overall: 7/10

[blouptalking]

My Wish Is to Fall in Love Until You Die

Kimi ga Shinu Made Koi wo Shitai / I Want to Love You Until You Die

Aono Nachi

25 chapters (ongoing)

drama, tragedy, fantasy, school, girl’s love

“There’s an orphanage which trains its charges to be weapons of war, assassins specialized in magic. At this “school” Shiina has been having a difficult time coping with her roommate’s death. She completely ignores rumours, including that of a supposedly impervious student by the name of “Mimi,” who is thought to be even stronger than the teachers and isn’t part of any group. While taking a breather, she encounters an overly cheerful young girl covered in blood, a they chat for a while before the child is hauled away by the school nurse. Shiina thought that they wouldn’t meet again, but the next day, the girl transfers into her class and cheerfully introduces herself as Mimi.”

(resume by MangaClash)

Story: 7/10

The story is great, I personally love stories sets in magical school/world and this one is really good. We don’t really know much about the war and why it’s happening, some characters backgrounds are also yet to be explained but it plays a role in the mystery of this manga.

There’s many questions without answers but at the same time we discover a lot of things about this universe, it’s very well balanced. The world building is slow, almost non existent but it’s not a negative point because all the importants informations are given at the beginning.

Art: 9/10

The art is *chief kiss*. It’s soft and fresh. Places such as the infirmary or the dorms have this indescribable feeling that puts me at ease. The girls chara design are basics but it’s very good nonetheless. It’s just very very pretty I don’t really know how to explain it ahah.

Cast: 8/10

The main character Sheena is very reliable. I don’t have the same personality as her but I still related to her at some points in the story. I felt a lot of empathy and understood her way of thinking. She’s a solid and entertaining main character. Her roommate Mimi is the same. An adorable little girl with who you can sympathize easily. I hoped we had more of her backstory and inner thoughts about the war tough.

Ari and Seiran are indeed a good supporting cast, their relationship develops really well without trespassing the main relationship. They made me cried really hard... Thanks.

Enjoyment: 10/10

I really really REALLY loved reading this manga. I was sad when I finished it and I can’t wait for the next chapter, it’s definitely a serie I’m gonna keep up with. It feels melancholic and sad in a beautiful way. The vibe and aesthetic of the art style is heavenly. I just fell in love ahah.

Overall: 10/10

[blouptalking]

Sesame Salt and Pudding

Guma Shio to Pudding

Suzuki Yufuko

3 volumes (completed)

romance, age gap, slice of life, comedy

“Haruhi, a 22-year-old machine operator, woke up one day to find that she drunkenly married an older man the night before. They make a deal and end up living together!”

(resume source: NINO)

Story: 8/10

It was really entertaining! My friend recommended me this short story because we were talking about age gap in romance and I kinda hate this trope. I guess this trope makes me uncomfortable because all the age gap romance I’ve read were weird things like student-teacher or a 16 years old with a 38 adult... That’s weird... But this story isn’t bad at all, the age gap is correct, they are both consenting adults and there’s no such things as “he knows her since she’s a child and waited for her to be 18 to date her”. The story itself was really basic but the dynamic between the two main characters is very entertaining. It was funny at some point, I did laugh at some jokes. It was a very cute romance story overall.

Art: 6/10

The art style was fine, maybe a little bit average. It was not bad at all. Well, I don’t really have any comments to make on the art style really...

Cast: 7/10

The two main characters were entertaining and funny. Their relationship and dynamics were what made the story so enjoyable. They both have very distinct personalities which makes their interaction funny and diverting at some point. Although I’m a little bit disappointed in the side characters because it felt like they were here just to support the main characters. Some of them appeared in one or two chapters and then disappeared and were never mentioned again.

Enjoyment: 9/10

I’m feeling really stressed because of school these days and reading Sesame Salt and Pudding made me feel a little better. It was short, funny and cute! I would totally recommend it if you want some age gap romance (in a non-weird way, but I’m still perplex about this trope...)

Overall: 8/10