Its 7 am in the morning, I can't sleep, so eh, I guess I'll write a review of [Girl Friends] here since I can't get it off my mind...seriously I even got a dream about Meru thanks to this (which I am immensely grateful of). So eh, here I go... WARNING - MASS SPOILERS YE AHEAD Spoiler RANDOMANGA REVIEW 9001 - GIRL FRIENDS "If there was such a thing as a 'Holy Grail' of Yuri genre manga, Girl Friends could very well be it" Now story-wise, the manga isnt exactly the most creative of them - to quote the manga plot description: The story revolves around the quiet Mari Kumakura whose only noticeable quality is her top of the class grades, enter the cute and friendly Akko Oohashi whose goal is to get to know Mari and become best friends with her. With Akko's help she quickly transforms into one of the more fashionable girls in school and becomes good friends with Akko, Sugi and Tamami. The group get into all kinds of situations; boys, diets, fashion, friends and studies [...] Yeah, not exactly the most creative story of all but by the crowning point of this manga, is its characters. Honestly the 35 chapters of the manga just makes you love the characters by showing you their own thoughts and development, I mean: - Volume 1 shows Mari warming up to Akko and co. - Volume 2 shows Mari realizing her feelings for Akko - Volume 3 shows things from Akko's perspective now and how she'll handle Mari's feelings. - Volume 4 shows that both girls have acknowledged that they've feelings for each other, but will they be able to accept it? - Volume 5 shows that they've both embraced their love - they're still nervous, but ready to face what may happen in the future. Throughout the manga you're treated to monologues of our protaganists and the interactions between them, you also get to see how each character develops her thoughts - The first 2 volumes portrays Mari's admiration for Akko, which eventually leads to her realizing that she is in love with Akko and the confusion and turmoil in her mind and heart that comes with this realization, she decides to deny her feelings out of fear that nothing will bear from it, but not before letting it known to Akko. The middle 2 volumes now portrays Akko's feelings after the events of Volume 2, unlike Mari, Akko isn't exactly that worried about her love for Mari and accepted that pretty well, her main problem however comes from the fact that Mari is somewhat drifting away from her, right when she realized her own feelings - It is this growing 'distance' between the 2 characters that really makes you want to root for them to get together at the end, and sure enough when they did at the end of Volume 4, it just makes the final volume the more of a huge, ticking emotional Time-Bomb. Volume 5, is truly the 'time-bomb' of the series - it first treats you to what may be seen as a 'honeymoon' period between Akko and Mari, as the 2 girls fully embrace their love with new-found passion (and humourous curiosity), and then WHAM comes chapter 35 as the ignition trigger: So the basic premise of chapter 35 shows all of our characters last moments together in the school as they share photos and memories of the past years and take 1 final 'Purikura' groupshot (amusingly, 6 girls can fit into 1 booth, much to their own surprise) before they graduate, we then move to probably the most emotional dialogue exchange between Mari and Akko in the entire manga, their fears for the future and also their assurance that they'll be together no matter what...and then comes the final countdown, the penultimate monologue of Mari before the eplilogue of the manga: "So, if Gods really exist.... Thank you, for letting me meet the person most important to me in the entire world. And please, Let me stay friends with the important, beloved girls I spent these long and short idyllic days with. And if we one day part, never to meet again... Please let everyone find happiness" ~Cue Arrival of Tears. If you managed to read through all 35 chapters and are able to resist crying your eyes off at the end, I salute you, because even I got teary eyed when I read the last lines of the manga. And its not only the lines that're touching, its the way they're placed along with the scenes that makes you feel the emotions of sadness and happiness that it evokes - it finalizes Mari's transformation from a shy girl in Volume 1 to a girl that is able to embrace her love and isn't afraid of the challenges ahead, it also shows how important the friendships with these girls are to her, and how much they've changed her life. And its not only that monologue that holds significance, the previous monologue by Mari right before also holds its own place: "When I fell in love with her (Akko), it really hurt - I cried a lot... And i'm sure, not for the last time... But, its not like we're special! I'm sure everyone...surely everyone has felt this way, about the person they love" This monologue, is just touching tbh, the fact that it is placed before the final countdown above just further intensifies the emotions that are evoked in the readers - I mean, this is Morinaga-sensei's way of saying "it doesn't matter if you're a girl loving a girl, love is love, and all the sweetness, bitterness and sourness that entails with it", it also shows that this isn't just a Yuri/Shoujo Ai manga, it is also a cute romance story as well. Overall, if there was such a thing as a 'Holy Grail' of Yuri genre manga, Girl Friends could very well be it. Morinaga-sensei has created an immersive story along with the beautifully (and cutely) drawn scenes that just draws you into the characters and makes you root for their relationship as you see their journey and interactions, and it is this point that I am truly, really amazed by. And its not only Yuri/Shoujo-ai fans that'll be able to enjoy this, I'm sure everyone who reads this will be able to see the cuteness and innocence in the relationship between Mari and Akko that'll allow them to enjoy the manga in the same way. Regardless, this by far stands as one of (if not) the best manga I've ever read, because no manga has ever lead to me feel such emotions for its characters that I actually felt like crying towards the end - that is truly a remarkable feat, and is definitely something that I enjoyed a lot from reading this. And so with that, I end off this So (very) Long review with Mari's final monologue in the manga: "Today too, I am able to move forward - because the image of your smiling face is forever impressed upon my heart" Final Score: 10/10 Hope you guys enjoy reading this random review of mine
I have read so many manga in my life. And I've only started reading manga like a year or two ago. I can't find any more good mangas to read!!! It's frustrating me. [boom] Any reccomendations?
I deeply regret for whimsically reads "Suki desu, Suzuki-kun"... Spoiler The main chara being NTR'd broke my heart... I know that the manga wasn't ended yet but...
You can try choosing here: http://www.mangareader.net/popular. If you're interested in Shounen Manga, why not try Hajime no Ippo and its 1007 chapters, that would be enough for some days of reading.
Since my current obsession is Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, I have started to read the manga...and damn the anime is almost 100% to the manga itself, about chapter 1-5 covered now out of 18 translated, I think I'll enjoy reading this a lot
Hi, i also read some manga. One Piece (my most favourite), Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Beelzebub. I like shounen manga. Manga with actions and adventure, i like it
This is my first post in this thread Apart from the usual popular manga that most people read such as One Piece, Naruto or Bleach I guess I will recommend some others Terra Formars - This is a seinen manga, it is a sci-fi battle manga and was voted to be the top manga of 2012. To summarize, it is basically a battle between humans and cockroaches. Yup you didn't read wrongly, COCKROACHES Reading this manga will increase your knowledge of insects a lot as well Hunter X Hunter - I believe this series is truly underrated outside of Japan considering that the average sales for the manga per volume is higher than Bleach which is known as the big three. This is a Shounen Jump battle manga, it is somewhat different from the others like Naruto or Bleach. The author is the same as Level E or the popular Yu Yu Hakusho for those of you who may know, plus this author is the only author to have more than 1 of his works being in top 10 best selling of all time in Shounen Jump, one is HxH and the other being Yu Yu Hakusho. This manga picks up quite slowly but it gets better later on and there are many interesting concepts presented in this series, considering that it came out in the 90s/early 2000s. The downside however, is that the author is sick frequently and it gotten very serious later on and his drawings became really sketchy, and of course he can take years before releasing 1 chapter due to his illness (almost 2 years since the last chapter came out). Luckily, the anime is ongoing so you can watch that. Shingeki no Kyojin - I read this before the anime came out, and what can I say? I suppose most of you should have heard of this by now so not much explanation needed Aku no Hana - Again this was another series I read before the anime came out. I didn't particularly like the anime for many reasons but I will leave that for another time. Do read the manga though, the genre is kinda like psychological. Not a battle manga. Kimi ni Todoke - This manga makes your view of the world more optimistic It's a shojo love story manga There are many others but I will leave with these 5 for now.
My type of manga are usually must include romance XD but I can live with great art without romance. current waiting list: -detective conan (duh my fave childhood manga until now, when will this end thou) -kamisama hajimemashita (fantasy romance, not feeling the romance, or is it just me) -naruto (I'm usually don't really read shonen but well, can't stop in the middle right?) -kuroshitsuji (totally love this, recommended! great art & story tbh) -pandora hearts (great art & concept, but the story is kinda difficult) -kyou koi wo hajimemasu (standard romance, but with some nice twists) some of are already ending.. -gakuen alice (great manga, but not the ending wasn't as cheerful as the start) -deadman wonderland (my friend told me to read, lots of blood) and many more!
I'm not much into manga these days, but since the publishing house re-released it here in my country, I decided to start collecting Love Hina. I already know the entire story, cause I watched the anime a few years ago (and also read the guide Love Hina Infinity), but I never had the chance to read the whole manga volumes. I don't know why, but I really like the Ken Akamatsu stories. Speaking of Akamatsu, early this year I finished Mahou Sensei Negima after more than 5 years of monthly reading. The end was a little disappointing, but the series had lost its "magic" a good while ago.
Hello, I'm currently reading Homunculus, but I'm about to finish it and I'm getting a little disappointed. I'm in the need for some dark sci-fi manga but I'm an anime person so I don't really know much about the (manga) genre besides Eden. For anime, I'd say something similar to Texhnolyze or Ergo Proxy, which are my favourite series. Can anyone recommend me some manga like that?
I'm reading Shingeki no Kyojin right now. Eren is annoying. I'm on Chapter 27, and I still don't like him. His character is developing a little better, though.
right now im reading denpa kyoushi, akb49, and kuroko basketball im also thinking of starting to read shingeki no kyoujin
Ah I've been big into manga lately~ I haven't read a lot but if I were to list a top 6 so far it would be (in no order): - Gantz - Hikari to Tomo ni - AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei - Great Teacher Onizuka - Monster - Oyasumi Punpun Right now I'm reading Kuroko no Basket and AKB49 and I think I'm gonna start Fullmetal Alchemist tonight as well. I have like 150 things on my plan to read list it's the worst.
Funny, I never been too into manga. I liked BD and all but, it was never really my type... Last year though, I tried reading AKB49 and that manga about the murder mysteries with Acchan being a detective, and it just spread to some more mangas. Nowadays I'm reading these: - Zangekikan (The Hororr Mansion) - Hundred - Tamanyan (I'm loving this one lol) - Mahou Shoujo of the End - AKB49 As for AKB49..... I'm getting really tired of it lately. I'm at volume 17 now and it just looks like it's never going to end? Does anyone know/have any predictions on when is it going to end? I'm serious thinking in quitting reading it :/ I think the story is being too much stretched, that dude should have been found at centuries ago lol
I'm currently reading just one series off the internet! It's called HOPE and it was made by Suenobu Keiko, creator of LIFE and LIMIT. It's super good and I love the plot.
I'm not really a big fan of mangas but wow, Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan is awesome! I just read #55 and it really just gets better every edition (And the torture scene was...unexpected lol). I love all the political/economic side of the story. It starts as a silly action story and it gets more and more complex. Just awesome Eren is just the starting point of the story. Things start to expand more and more with time, and Eren becomes practically a secondary character, so don't worry about him being annoying haha And I actually like this. Usually the main character is perfect in everything and Eren is just a regular annoying teenager.
