narutolvr's manga / #3/10(21)

It was cute but also really boring. I guess that was because the author took from her own life to write it but...the story was completely bland, like drinking flat, warm soda.

How do I say this? This was kind of really awful lol. Don't get me wrong- it was a great setup and decent art, but the actual plot was really bad. It was as if the author wrote each chapter to be the last one, like reading 10 one shots about the same couple in a row. But a 27 page one shot doesn't really give you much time to develop any emotion towards the characters, especially when dealing with such a bombastic topic like a high school yakuza head. Characters were introduced with little to no backstory, the problem was resolved within 10-15 pages, and then the character disappears again. We never actually find out anything about them. The three "love-triangle" characters would have made great story fodder (ex: I was really curious as to why the other Yakuza guy was so attached to the MC; what was his past like that he wanted to be with her so badly?). It just seemed like an effort to force the plot along, rather than letting the character development take the story with it, which is such a waste considering the good setup and characters with so much potential! But this is pretty characteristic of this author, I guess. I'm always just so disappointed because she turns what could be great stories into shallow time-killers. Really wish she'd study a bit more on how to improve suspense so she can hook readers in better... -_-

Odd but not awful. It was pretty bad though, lol.

I'm not sure how I feel about this manga. The plot setup is fun (not original but fun) but it's been done better in several other mangas. The characters seem interesting but, in the end, we don't see much development from them other than the fact that the MC starts to like the male lead. There's potential for a good story but, rather than using different scenes to show how the male's feelings for the MC advanced, the author keeps repeating the same 4 panels of her covering him with the umbrella and telling him to come to her house. Did he actually go to her house, btw? We don't know how he felt ending up in the same class as her (it could have been on purpose since he was "watching her") or how he came to find out about her debt. Even in chapter 4, her rival did an about face instantaneously, but we weren't shown enough background on the rival to support the sudden change of heart. Literally, one page she says she doesn't want to live poor like her mother and the next she's happy that her mother's keepsake was saved. We don't get to see any of the relationship between the girl and her mother to suggest that she actually really cares about her. So it just seems like she changed her mind on a whim rather than out of actual character development. And that's what I mean by shallow; the author plants the seeds of typical shoujo situations, and expects us to go along with it just because it's been done that way before. But without any elaboration on these situations, it's like she's just copy pasting any generic story formula.

Not bad. But I can never understand these Stockholm Syndrome type situations where the uke falls in love after being forced into sex (plus no lubrication). It's more likely that the experience would have traumatized him rather than make his heart thump. If it weren't noncon, or if the author had at least attempted to establish some sort of emotion between them before the sex, it would have been easier to swallow (at least I could have reasoned that his feelings were strong enough to overcome that situation).

Didn't care for any story except for the last one and that was only because it seemed to be a prequel to REC by this author (with the exception of a change in first name, all details match) that I absolutely love. I found the first and second a bit boring. As for the third story, just how gullible are those school kids, anyway? The rumors weren't even good/sensible so you'd have to be a complete ignoramus to buy them. How can you believe the guy is a skirt chaser when all of two days ago he turned down a super pretty girl and said he'd only do things with the person he loves? And then the girl is suddenly a two timer out of nowhere when no one saw proof except for this "Apple-chan"? I sort of understand what the author was trying to convey but she made it so shallow that the characters just all looked like idiots lol.

What separates a good short story from a bad one when dealing with 30 pages or less is being able to generate an emotional reaction from the readers. This story didn't have that at all, and the times when it did try to show an emotional shift in the characters, the story was bogged down by the odd pacing and inconsistent dialogue. Also, I don't get the obsession with the whole "first boyfriend" thing. Did he say that when he confessed or something? It seemed like everyone's focus was on that but it didn't make any sense for the girls to claim that was the only reason he was dating her. I mean, he was at least a year older than her; you're telling me there were no girls in his grade who never dated before?

Hated it. The guy was an asshole and the girl was wishy washy, and they never actually resolved their issues; they just kissed and pretended nothing happened. Kept reading hoping for some sort of vindication/resolution but...

I'll begrudgingly give this a 3/10 because it didn't make me want to stab my eyes out in anger. Buuuuut, can't say I liked it all that much. The MC was an asshole; yeah he wasn't as bad in the end, but he was so awful in the beginning her falling for him never actually made sense. And the girl was a typical heroine- honestly, nothing about her personality had me particularly wanting to cheer for her or support her, despite her being the MC. And, of course, there's the problem with this series lasting more than 20 chapters; the last 70 chapters or so (basically after they started dating) showed so little plot development I felt like I was wasting away reading it. If it weren't for my stubborn desire to finish the mangas I start, I would have dropped this SO long ago! Sadly though, it's still this author's best work. Only 1 rape scene, after all. Wait, scratch that- 2. One hand is still enough to count them all so still a record.

Hated a ton of the stories as this author just seemed to have a thing for awful, shitty characters and the people who settle for them. I did somewhat enjoy chapters 6 and 7 though. And one other chapter somewhere in the middle