Atashi Wa Bambi
re-read on: 08/11/16 It was cute and interesting, but definitely needed more. I wanted to see how the love between Mai and Yaezou blossom from being rivals for Sen. It's not very common to see couples, like this, you see. So just leaving us like that is very dissatisfying. I wanted them to hang out more and get to know each other more before shoving to our faces that they fell in love with each other. I'm not sure how to feel about Mai and Sen's kiss though. Well... Sen and Minami already broke up at that time and he was on the process of moving on, so I guess it shouldn't really matter much. Yeah. I guess I can take that. Since Minami was the one to break it off, I guess she had no right to restrict Sen that way. It's enough that they're still mutually in love, though not as much as before. They could just work it out from there.
Kitto Kiss O Suru Toki
The art is gorgeous, and I like how this is so fluffy. The kiss scenes are totally adorable, sweet yet hot. Ugh! They're so lovely together. I like how Mitsuya wasn't a jerk to him and Shin didn't oppose Mitsuya after finding out his feelings. More to come. I'm excited to see Shin's reaction when they finally do more. --- update (10/16/16): It's ended... Anyway, rated it 4/5. I really liked the art and how fluffy they were... It wasn't "amazing" because there wasn't anything especially remarkable about the story (except for the art) but I really enjoyed reading it. ^^
Glass Shoes (im Hae Yeon)
Ch 16 // hmm nice concept. The thought about revealing the truth which won't make anybody around her happy or just keeping things as they are is interesting. For a second, I thought, what if I'm faced with a similar dilemma? If I happen to know a truth that will destroy everyone's happiness and making me look like the bad guy, would I still reveal it? Or should I just keep a blind eye and let people be happy? Well, in the story, leaving things as they are isn't good because it's not like they won't do bad things again. If left as is, there's a chance that more people will suffer. Is it selfish to take away their short-lived happiness for the good of many, even if some of them are those we consider "family?" Doesn't it feel hypocritical if for instance, I knew that a family member did a crime and I turn him in? Others may say that as a family, we're supposed to protect one another, so I'm supposed to help him evade the law. However, I personally think that if I don't let him take responsibility, it will only get worse. I mean, of course I worry. For example, if it's my husband and I have to hand him over to the police. What if he's abused while in prison, or worse, killed? I worry about such things, especially because I know that other officials can give up their honor for fame or money. I find it hard to trust even those people who are supposed to protect us. So anyway, I may appear cold-hearted, but well honestly, maybe it would depend on the situation and the gravity of the sin? Anyway, back to the manhwa. I liked how it talked about the tale of the glass slippers... How pretending to be someone else or taking advantage of others for selfish intentions would only hurt them in the end.
Hadashi De Bara Wo Fume
I loved and hated this manga at the same time. There were a lot of moments that made me so frustrated to the point of wanting to smash my keyboard, though there were also cute moments that made me root for the characters. Okay, let's start with Sumi. Sumi, Sumi, Sumi. Oh, the ever innocent Sumi. From the start, I kind of found her annoying. She was innocent yet arrogant. You see, she has decided to sell herself involuntarily to save the children and she even almost went along with an old guy who offered. And here comes Souichiro who offered to take her instead, as long as she fulfills her end of the deal. In retrospect, she's already achieved something better than selling herself outright. It may be the same, because she also sold herself, but at least, with Souichiro, she wasn't forced to that level. Since she agreed with their deal, to be his wife, the least she could do was respect Souichiro as a person. But what did she do? She just couldn't hide her lovestruck face for Nozomu. I mean, even after the kidnapping/fire incident, how could she "innocently" follow him to his house? This girl. Did she want to be forced that much? She knew the guy had hots for her and it's impossible not to notice that his obsession wasn't normal, and there she goes following him along. Like really, did she think that by not rejecting him firmly, she's being kind? Ugh. Even at that party, when Nozomu announced that she's his fiancee and Souichiro crashed looking haggard and dirty... Even if she didn't mean it, the way she treated him publicly was just too much. Even if it's true that she married for money, how could she disgrace both him and herself like that? I hated how she had to say those words. They crush men's pride and faith much, you know. It's a low blow. Of course, I pity her too. I mean, I sympathized with her, feeling helpless when all she wanted was to provide for the children they took up... I mean, that was her purpose, right? I know that falling in love can't be helped, but I wish she was wiser at least. Also, she's too naive and very easy to fool. I'm annoyed when presented with a female MC who seems to be kind and trusting only to be betrayed later on because she misjudges people a lot. Haaah. Really. She's the character I disliked the most in this manga. I mean, hey, sure, she was talented in more ways than one. Like in cooking and in shogi. She's also deemed beautiful. But other than that, she's just too st*pid. She didn't think things thouroughly and just jumped into action, as if confident that she'll always be saved. Ughhhh. As for Souichiro, well, he may look really tyrannical in the beginning, but hey, they made a deal and she agreed to it so I guess it gave him the right to act intimate with her. He was moody and he schemed a lot to gain more by using Sumi, but honestly? Sumi benefited a lot from it too so they're just quits. I admired how he became more responsible after choosing to be with Sumi though. And I can see how painful it was to be left like that despite swearing to each other. Ugh. He's been hurt too much in this manga. Tsk. Nozomu. The prince charming who took the yandere route. He was certainly charming in the beginning and I could tell he truly cared for her. However, one can only take too much jealousy. I say Sumi is to be blamed partly though. Even though they clearly agreed to be husband and wife, she still went ahead to get close with Nozomu showing her lovestruck expression. Erk. Anyway, his obsession was truly excessive, as even the revelation of the blood ties didn't bother him at all and still wanted to claim her. Poor you. You were a victim, too, but I sincerely hoped you at least atoned for all the mess you made. As for the story, the ending was too rushed and dissatisfying. The story had a lot of loose ends and questions left unanswered. For a poor girl x rich boy story, I guess this was pretty good because instead of a scheming female rival, we get a male yandere instead, which is kind of rare in my case. So yeah. Hmm, art was inconsistent but beautiful a lot of times. Especially with Sumi. Maaan. I don't even know how to look at her anymore. She's had too many hairstyles and even her face changed a lot from mature and childish. Like sometimes, she just really looks elegant and classy, then sometimes she looks just her age, 15. ps. It was hard reading bec of the LQ scanlations, but it was better than nothing. pps. This was re-read on: 08/12/16. First read around 2014, I believe. Didn't enjoy much this time around.
Koakuma no Sanctuary
Oh-kayyy... I liked it but disliked it at the same time.. 1st couple: Kagami and Rei. Kagami was 8 years older than Rei and was Rei's brother's friend. So they got together when Rei was in HS, had sex a few times, then Kagami just suddenly broke up with him. 10 years later, they meet again, and it turned out they haven't gotten over each other yet. They were about to re-ignite their intimacy again, when Kagami received a phone call and backed out. So, it was actually Rei's brother who called. Kagami broke up with Rei 10 years ago because he felt guilty about their relationship on his friend's (Rei's bro) back. So when he called at that exact moment, Kagami felt like it was a slap to reality and made him think about how he avoided Rei for the very same reasons. Anyway, even after Kagami tried to avoid him, Rei still hoped for their love to happen again. So. after being picked for their company's product testing, they were able to compromise and be with each other since they were unable to resist anyway... Hmm, so what do I think about this? Well, it had the same premise as Sekaiichi, regarding the 10-year re-encountering love, but unlike in Sekaiichi where Takano had a hard time winning Ritsu back, the struggle for this couple was next to none. Rei was just... always waiting for Kagami to come to his terms and he'd gladly take him back. It wasn't even hard enough for Kagami to come back since Rei too blindly in love with him despite being abandoned twice. I would've liked it more if Kagami worked harder to prove his love for Rei and if Rei resisted a bit to make Kagami pay for abandoning him at least. 2nd couple: Luciano and Yoshi. Yoshi was the company president and Luciano was his exclusive model and 2-year lover. The conflict started when Yoshi started paying too much attention to a new model he hired for the same line Luciano was representing. Since Luciano felt insecure with the new guy's age and how much attention Yoshi was giving him instead of taking notice of Luciano, he felt that Yoshi must've been getting tired of him, especially because he hadn't been speaking words of love or cuddling/snuggling after sex. Then enters Saotome-san, the graphic designer for the ad, who favored Luciano and openly talked how much he adored and appreciated his charms when he invited him to eat out (Yoshi had been too busy lately for him). Of course, even being shown this kind of attention, he didn't exactly want to give in to Saotome-san, until they see Yoshi and the new model guy together outside (as if they've just gone elsewhere, when Yoshi should've been somewhere else). Luciano then spent more time with Saotome-san, and during his rehearsals for ramp modeling, he met Saotome-san backstage and went ahead to kiss him... Then goes Yoshi who was furious with the scene but decided they should talk about it elsewhere. Saotome-san knew that they were mutually in love so he convinced Luciano to talk with Yoshi properly. Luciano then confessed how insecure Yoshi made him feel about not saying words of love and being sweet anymore, and only paying attention to the new model. Yoshi explained that he only adored the new model for the job, but not privately, and he promised to always tell him he loves Luciano so he won't feel insecure again. From then on, Yoshi was true to his words, to the point where Luciano got annoyed with how much he's been saying it. Hmm.. my thoughts.. Well, even if some look over it, I still consider what Luciano did as cheating. Sure, it was only a kiss and it's not like he no longer loved Yoshi, but the point was, he should've at least confronted Yoshi first before jumping into conclusions like that. I mean, if I were in his position, I would be fuming jealous about those scenes, but I wouldn't take on another guy just because I felt neglected. If I can't confront my lover, I'd rather wait for the right time to talk than mess around with someone else, especially one who confessed his sincere feelings for me, when I don't feel the same. That'd just be too cruel, and it doesn't matter if my lover was really cheating or I just assumed wrongly, but being with others to get back at him is just too much for me. I wouldn't want to do what he did to me to get even. That's just because I'm not a cheater though. So yeah, I wish Yoshi punished Luciano a bit for that little affair rather than just making Luciano feel that he was mad, then got over it quickly. 3rd couple: Saotome and his uke (I forgot the name). The uke was assigned as Saotome's assistant, and he was more than happy since he liked Saotome for a long time. While at work, the uke noticed how lifeless Saotome was and caught that he was fretting over his broken heart for Luciano so he didn't have the motivation to work hard. The uke then offered to comfort him, if it'd help, saying since he wanted the job to be done, he'd do anything. Saotome had sex with him but felt guilty so he requested to re-assign the uke. The uke was actually clueless until someone from work asked why he resigned being Saotome's assistant. The uke then confronted Saotome and Saotome told him that he felt guilty for making him do something like that for the job. The uke then revealed that it was a lie and the truth was that he's in love with him, but since he didn't feel the same, he felt happy just to be embraced even once. Saotome accepted his reasoning and asked to help him move on, and the uke gladly responded. Of course, at that point it was good enough for me. But then, Saotome just had to ruin it when he suddenly said "I love you" towards the end. I mean, wth! He just agreed for the rebound relationship so I felt like it was too fake for him to say he loved the uke just for the sake of it. Like, really, did the mangaka think it'd be more romantic for the seme to say those words just to commence being a couple? Nah-ah. I would've wanted him to just let the uke say it since those feelings were real. He should've spent more time getting to know the uke first before declaring his love. It's just to fake when a few minutes ago he was still in love with someone else then after deciding that it'd be helpful to have the uke help him move on, he suddenly loved the uke. Meh. 4th couple: Hoshino and Tokunaga. I disliked their story the most because it was rapey and I didn't feel any love. So Hoshino was jogging and thinking about how Rei, his co-worker, managed to find time to have a lover when they're too busy for that. While resting, the dog Jack came up to him along with the owner, Tokunaga who was actually a sculptor. Anyway, being too excited, Jack jumped onto Hosino, causing him to fall back and injure his right arm. Tokunaga then felt so apologetic and offered to help him during the one month Hoshino needed to keep the cast on. Tokunaga cooked for him and he was glad, until he offered to wash Hoshino and helped him strip. Tokunaga mentioned how he admired Hoshino's body, and while being touchy-feely, he got to Hoshino's D and touched him. Of course, Hoshino resisted but Tokunaga insisted that since he's on cast, he must've a lot pent up so he's doing him a favor by helping him masturbate. Despite disliking it, Hoshino actually came fast with Tokunaga's hand so he felt embarassed and yelled at him to leave. The following days after that, Tokunaga didn't show up and he felt a bit lonely and dissatisfied. While walking, he passed by Tokunaga's studio and Jack spotted him so he stayed for a while, only to be discovered by Tokunaga. He was invited to have coffee inside and he went along since he was curious about Tokunaga's works too. Tokunaga showed his portfolio and he realized that the sculptures where all male bodies and Tokunaga was actually inspired after seeing the naked structure of *whowasitagain?Michaelangelo?*. He then requested for Hoshino to pose nude since he claimed that Hoshino's body was his ideal. Hoshino finally agreed and he stripped naked. While sketching, Tokunaga's eyes seemed burning with desire while staring at Hoshino's body so he felt too conscious to the point where his body was feeling hot and his little guy was reacting to the heat. Tokunaga took this opportunity to touch him and even though Hoshino blatantly refused, Tokunaga forced himself on him, saying that his body won't react if he didn't actually like it. So yeah, it was rapey. After that, Hoshino was mad at him and didn't meet him again, until Tokunaga sent him an invitation to his exhibit. Since the invitation's salutation was "to my love," he felt that perhaps Tokunaga was sincere with him and maybe he could love him too. So he went there, only to discover Tokunaga being surrounded and being touchy feely with two men, side by side. He then realized that Tokunaga must've done the same to all his models and he was just like the rest. He walked out only to be stopped by Tokunaga. Tokunaga pulled him into a room to explain that those guys were indeed his models before and he slept with them, but the only one special to him now was Hoshino. After hearing this, Hoshino just felt relieved and accepted him right away. See?! That's why I was so mad. I didn't feel Tokunaga's sincerity at all. I mean, c'mon! He went out of his way to invite Hoshino, making it seem like he wanted to show his sincere feelings after raping him before, so the least he could do was keep his hands to himself instead of being all over other guys whom he used to sleep with. Urk. I just couldn't stand him. I mean, if guys like him could be that casual with people he hooked up with, I wouldn't have a peace of mind at all. His words just negate his actions. He didn't even show any remorse towards his awful actions and he still led Hoshino around. Tsk. Anyway, the last part was cute though, seeing how all the couples gathered for Saotome's completed project.
Migawari Hakushaku no Bouken