Tag Archives: Manga review

June 2015 Monthly Manga

So cute it hurts #1

Shoujo fluff at its fluffiest. I admit to being a bit of a sucker for cross-dressing stories, and this one has a set of male/female twins who swap identities.  Our twins swap places and, while posing as the other, they get into some trouble.  They also fall in love with someone, and having others fall in love with them in return. You can just smell the Twelve Night shenanigans that will happen as those who love our heroes see the other twin.  It’s ridiculous and unbelievable, the reasoning for the swap is rushed, but it’s a basic trope for manga and you just have to suspend your disbelief and go with it.  The problem is there isn’t much to the story after that. At least, not enough for someone who is a lot older than the target demographic. If I was in middle or high school, I might find it charming, but as an adult, I found the story to be hackneyed and with too little meat on it to be of much interest.  I’m not likely to continue unless I hear later that it improves and becomes a lot more interesting.

 

Kamisama Kiss #18

Nanami has survived her time travel and she has saved Tomoe’s life. Now she’s back to the mundane, trying to pass school. She doesn’t care that she’s failing because she’s just so happy to be in a relationship with Tomoe, but her failing grades might keep her from going on the school field trip.  As a god, her life can never stay mundane very long, and it soon her other-worldly adventures drags in her human friends as well. This series continues to entertain!

What did You Eat Yesterday vol 1

What did You Eat Yesterday vol 1

By Yoshinaga Fumi, published by Vertical

Yoshinaga Fumi is known for her BL (Boys Love) books, and while this series does feature a gay couple, it’s Food Porn not BL Porn.  Well, half of her series are general slice-of-life drama that just happen to have gay characters in it rather than strictly BL, and those tend to be my favorites of hers anyway.

What did you eat yesterday features Shiro Kakei, a narcissistic lawyer and his lover Kenji Yabuki, a more openly out hair stylist.  Shiro’s hobby is cooking, and each chapter spends a fair number of pages intimately covering his cooking.

The art is lovely and clean.  Backgrounds are a bit sparse, but generally gives enough to establish setting.  Shiro looks a bit like her typical leading guy, but Kenji has a bit of a different look for her.   Food looks delicious.

I liked the characters and the look at their life, but I found myself skipping over the description of the food preparation.  I like her work in general and I want to support her work so more will get translated over, I’m not certain this is a series I can really get into.