Venus Capriccio
It was sort of a nice deviation from most shoujos I come across but it started to drag a lot and by chapter 20, became so predictable I just skipped to the final chapter. The reunion was pretty anticlimactic which I didn't mind but I was disappointed that the author didn't use the space to show a bit of character development, which I think is the purpose of a time skip in the first place otherwise, what's the point? If I were careless in reading, I wouldn't have known any time had passed at all; the characters were the exact same as the beginning of the manga. Maybe the author should have fast forwarded more than 2 years, or maybe she should have chosen a different way to end it. Either way, the final third of this manga really let down the expectations I had from the beginning.
Sweet Black
Sokkuri Mate
Teppen
Read this for the first time maybe 7 years ago and never got the chance to finish so I had to this time...kinda wish I hadn't- I should have left this series as a nice memory in my head. Now that I'm older and have read it all the way through, I can say I really didn't like it. It's not as if I hated it, it was just really bland. I was soooooo bored reading this it was ridiculous! The writing was lackluster and a little bit cheesy, the characters were dull and static with the exception of the male lead (such is the way shoujo goes I suppose). I thought the plot was extremely inconsistent like when the MC claims she found out about her brother on her mother's deathbed but a few chapters later says she would only wear her brother's old clothes when she was young OR the fact that she listed her birthplace as NY but the first chapter shows her mother dying in England and not one mention is ever made as to how/why they moved or even that they did move...there were just way too many holes left unexplained. Even though the characters' eyes bordered on way too big, the art wasn't bad at all. Ending was terrible; if I went all the way to Japan just to find my brother, best believe I'd damn sure ask any guy I suspected of being him! All in all, it was a waste of (my) time but I can imagine someone much younger would like it. I wish I could get back the 40 minutes I wasted reading this though...
Melancholic Mellow Mellow
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).
Owaranai Fukou Ni Tsuite No Hanashi
Usotsuki Ouji to Nisemono Kanojo
Ended already, huh? It wasn't bad but the later chapters just couldn't hold up to the expectations the first 5 or so chapters set for me. Overall, the ending was just way too rushed. I mean, I'm glad they came clean and all but trying to turn the chairman into a "good" guy in 2 pages just didn't work. Doesn't matter if you want your kids recognized; threatening your son with his sister's life and breaking up his relationship with his girlfriend for literally no reason is just not a good look. So, needless to say, the end did disappoint me a bit.
Kozure Ookami (INOUE Satou)
Read this a little while ago but forgot to mark it. Not bad but there are other single dad yaois that I prefer. Main story was short and the second didn't catch my attention very much.
Sayonara, Hero.
It was sweet but I wish the author had made the emotions deeper. As it was, I didn't really feel anything until the end of the 3rd chapter when he died and, even then, I was only a little bit sad because it didn't feel like the author built the relationship between them while struggling against his illness. I'd recommend Rec- the day I cried as a similar story with more emotional depth- that one had me bawling like a baby lol
Beauty Pop