Hanazono No Kioku
Orange (takano Ichigo)
Oh good just so touching! I knew this would be a great story from the first 3 chapters, and it just kept hitting with the emotional punches all the way to the end! TT_TT I still feel...not let down, but I do wish we had seen a bit more of Kakeru overcoming his demons and moving on a bit more since, even at the end, he was still a bit unstable. But the way it ended was also very meaningful, since we did see that he had the desire to keep on living. Guess I just wanted to watch them all grow up a lil longer. This must be how parents feel lol
Diamond Head
The plot seemed a little...out there? Ridiculous? But still enjoyable. The mangaka did a great job pulling out the characters' emotions though, and seemed to have a real knack for painting dark emotions onto a seemingly lighthearted plot. As such, I find it rather difficult to classify this as shoujo, or even josei. The ending was definitely very rushed, which was a disappointment after all the emotional buildup beforehand. The scene with Setsu's email was absolutely beautiful and heartwrenching, though, and had me sobbing for longer than I'd like to admit. TT_TT
Rookies
Himegimi To Sanbiki No Kemono
An adventure loving king passes away, leaving his only daughter with nothing but stories of the world and a vague description of the priceless treasure he left for her. Unfortunately for the princess, her cautious mother becomes even more overprotective after the king's passing, and her only route to escaping her cage is through her imagination. That is, of course, until the 3 beasts, an infamous thief trio, arrive at the castle in hopes of capturing that treasure for themselves... REALLY cute story!
Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai
Kyou Wa Kaisha Yasumimasu.
ReRe Hello
Synopsis: After her father is rushed to the hospital, Ririko is forced to take over his task for their family "Handy-man" business- to help clean house for a certain "Mr. Suou"... Review: Waaah I finished reading this! Only took 3 or so years of on again off again manga reading! All in all, it was a cute story. At times, it seemed about to sink into common shoujo tropes, but it managed to pull itself together and retain that light-heartedness I love just in time. The characters were...fine, I suppose? While a few of them were spoiled to the point where it irritated me at times, no one was truly unbearable. Even the part with Suou's mom that looked like it was gonna turn into a 3 volume drama filled sob story was cleared up in 2-3 chapters. Everything that would have had me rolling my eyes had they lasted any longer stopped just after I thought "lol, these people are silly". The ending may have been rushed, but I don't feel like dragging the story out further would enhance our impressions on the characters or plot or anything, so I rather liked the way it ended (though I'm a bit sad to see it go). Long story short, this was a nice, fun story that didn't take itself too seriously.
Kedamono Nanbiki?