Comments on: Manga First Impressions 2: B.O.D.Y, Monkey High, Haruka

By: Jodie

Jodie — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:19:10 +0000

I love mokey high! I’ve got the first 2 volumes and can’t wait for the third to come out in september! I also have read the first chapter of B.O.D.Y. and I really think its a good manga! With my birthday in 5 days it looks like I’m off on a manga shopping spree! ^^

By: Liviania

Liviania — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:34:14 +0000

Some more titles I’ll have to find. And eee, Marmalade Boy! Marmalade Boy was one of the first manga series I read in its entirety, and I still have a soft place for it. I also rather like Boys over Flowers – it verges into the absurb, but it always makes me laugh.

By: ジェーン(Jān)

ジェーン(Jān) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:07:37 +0000

I think a lot of people are put off by the first couple volumes. But it’s worth pushing past that.

By: Estara

Estara — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:04:11 +0000

Oh Right! They released that as Kiss me, Teacher! in Germany. I loved Kizuna, but I couldn't get into that one, so I gave my first volume away. I didn't know the Japanese name, though. Kazuma Kodaka

By: ジェーン(Jān)

ジェーン(Jān) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:51:51 +0000

Estara, Kusatta Kyoshi no Hyouteishiki is by Kazuma Kodaka, and it’s a bit like Sensei! except with more humor. And two guys.

A freshman enters his high school because the gentle older boy who tutored him when he was little is the doctor there now. Only he gets there and finds the guy’s brother, a wild one. His emotions transfer, and the next 10 volumes are spent convincing the man to give him a chance.

It starts out with manic comedy for a couple of volumes and you just have to get past that. Then she starts exploring characters and relationships and it becomes one of the most romantic and best BL manga I’ve read. She gets the mix of innocence and experience just rigt. And, she does it slowly and convincingly. There’s no sex until the very end, but because of the subject matter I don’t think it will ever be released over here. It’s been scanlated though. Plus it’s never been that popular in the States, which is a darned shame. K2 is writing a sequel now that’s in Gold.

I’ll be looking for the others you mentioned. :)

By: ジェーン(Jān)

ジェーン(Jān) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:44:17 +0000

Jill, I watched the anime in fansubs. The DVDs are just starting to be released here in the next couple weeks. I don’t buy R2. But hearing what you say about the last DVD, I’ll absolutely have to buy it in R1. :) I wonder how much Bandai will be charging for all of them though.

By: Estara

Estara — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:21:01 +0000

@Jan: With Yatteraneeze! I can only agree. Marmalade Boy or Boys over Flowers I could never quite get into, I did like Kodomo no Omocha though (isn’t that the same mangaka as Marmalade Boy?).

School comedy love is High School Debut and Love Complex (Kokou Debut has been scanlated up to volume 9 so far and it has avoided the worst pratfalls, although there are clichés like the former lover or the friend who turns into a rival – at last this one only came nine volumes in, so it’s actually believable. And the characterisation stays right on character, with them slowly changing only. I LOOOOOOOVE the heroine even more than the hero.)

The Love Complex anime won me over and I believe I will have to get the manga, if it’s as good. Manga is being released as Love*Com in the States, also by Viz.

I haven’t heard anything yet about Kusatta Kyoshi no Hyouteishiki, I think. Could you go into details?

By: Jill A

Jill A — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:09:39 +0000

I’m glad you tried out Haruka (so we don’t have to ^_^) I’m a total fangirl of the videogames and have, like, ALL of them (well, all the PS2 versions anyway), but when I tried to read the manga, I was 1. confused, 2. bored, 3. annoyed. I just don’t think these games translate well to a story which has to go in only one direction. The artwork is very pretty though.

One thing about the anime which I don’t remember you mentioning: the last DVDs come with alternate endings for each character, since pairing up Akane with just one would be too boring. So if you want, you could buy just the ending DVD to get all the moe goodness :D

And Harutoki 4 is coming out in June for PS2 and Wii, so if you have a Wii, try it out! (Wii doesn’t usually have region-encoding) It looks AWESOME, and I’ve been drooling over it for months already…

By: Jules Jones

Jules Jones — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:38:12 +0000

And the first two volumes of B.O.D.Y. are available for pre-order in the UK. That definitely looks like a series to check out once it’s available.

By: ジェーン(Jān)

ジェーン(Jān) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:20:49 +0000

Estara, I think my favorite high school romance manga of the MF variety will always be my first, Marmalade Boy. It really had some great characters and triangles and for all the parts with silly cliches, some really heartfelt moments. The anime sucked though.

For M/M high school romance, the best I’ve read is Yatteraneeze!. It’s a standout is so many ways. It’s not available over here, unfortunately. Or if you don’t mind student / teacher M/M romances, my absolute favorite is Kusatta Kyoshi no Hyouteishiki, which packs more punch into single kisses than you can get from whole books full of porn. But, sadly, it’s not licensed either.