Shoujo Manga Updates and Thoughts :) (Part I)

Posted in Manga by

‘Sup people! I have been on a shoujo manga roll recently despite many valiant efforts to finally quit and focus on my studies *ahem* so there’s really been a lot of manga I have read since my last manga related post! So I decided to just do mini reviews for some of the manga I have read so far – no spoilers ahead, so read on! xD

Cat StreetCat Street

This is a coming-of-age story which focuses on a group of friends. Keito Aoyama is a famous child actor who retired from her career early due to a traumatic incident and she has been passing her days without purpose since then. One day, she meets a stranger who brings her to El Liston, a free school for students like herself who don’t think they have a place in society. There, Keito finds new friends and slowly grows to accept and open up to others, as well as confront her childhood fears. This is a story about finding yourself, and I really liked the concept of El Liston – I wonder why there aren’t more of these institutions in real life! There is a lot of character development in here – and for the romance part, its not conventional because Keito doesn’t choose the first guy she falls for, though its possible you’d pick up some clues right at the start about who she’s gonna choose in the end. Though because I have seen so many great reviews on it I went in thinking that it will blow my mind – it didn’t, but it has a very unique story and likable characters nonetheless.

My rating: 8/10, recommended! Contains drama and psychological themes.

Stardust Wink

This is a romance comedy between three childhood friends: Anna, Sou and Hinata; and Anna’s love journey to see who she actually likes. This is a typical high school fluffy shoujo manga, but its also not so typical after all. The characters are not superficial though Anna is really really confused all the time about who she really likes – in fact, I think its hard to tell who she’s going to end up with – there’s so many twists and turns. Even when she’s confused, Anna is not fickle-minded and that’s a relief. The English translation is not fully scanlated yet, so I finished this in Chinese. However, I think there isn’t a real difference between stopping at where the English chapters end and the ending; its essentially the same though there are other certain revelations about the relationships of one of the main characters.

My rating: 7/10, recommended if you are looking for a light, entertaining but not superficial shoujo read with a confused girl (I personally love these things, haha!)

Hiren TripHiren Trip

A story about an aspiring mangaka who meets her school’s student council president – one of the less seen male sempai-female kouhai relationships out there. The girl falls for the guy first, but thankfully it wasn’t too cliched. The art fits my taste and the feelings explored weren’t superficial to say at the very least. Too bad it was really too short (8 chapters) but it was a pleasant read.

My rating: 7/10    

Renren Zakari - SO ADORBS <333Renren Zakari

The story screams love triangle alert! But make up that with gorgeous art and gorgeous lines and it really makes those very short 5 chapters worth it. I like love triangles a lot anyway so there isn’t anything that would dissuade me from reading this. Plus, the main female is not an annoying character so that’s a gigantic plus. Check out the screenshot, how is that not enticing? xD

My rating: 7/10 

Hana to Rakurai

Hana to Rakurai

“The language is truly beautiful, whether its spoken or written, it’s able to make others feel emotions …

That’s most likely what love is.”

A story about helping people and passing that kindness on to others. These themes are not uncommon, but its rare that they are explored subtly and able to elicit a emotional response from its audience. This story deals with characters’ past and the challenges they face in interacting with others, and it also deals with friendship in a very meaningful way. This is a very heartwarming story about reaching out to people, and possibly tearjerking too when we get to know about their backstories. Its amazing how all these are explored in merely 8 chapters.

My rating: 8/10, highly recommended!

That’s all from me for now; thank you for reading and hopefully you are persuaded at least to check out these manga. Look out for Part 2 of this series 🙂 (having completed so many manga that I can’t fit everything into one post :p)

*All images belong to their respective owners and do not belong to me.*

20 thoughts on “Shoujo Manga Updates and Thoughts :) (Part I)”

      • Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t get to respond to this.

        Hiren Trip…… How can I like the male lead when he had used the main girl so he could get some info on her brother, who happens to be the boyfriend of the girl he has liked forever ?

        W/ Stardust Wink, the male lead ( blond guy? ) had an affair with his teacher, and tried to hide that affair from the main girl.

        Like

      • Ah yes, he did have those intentions at the start. You could say that even though he really did fall for the girl at the end, it doesn’t justify his initial intentions.
        That is true, but perhaps it could be seen as a mistake on his part – at that time they weren’t really ‘together’ with commitment in that sense (if I am not wrong?) and it was just all very blurred lines. But this is where all the drama comes in I suppose.

        Like

      • That’s the thing, I ‘m not sure if he had actually fallen in love at the end. It was unrealistically ( even for manga ) too fast to have fallen out of love with teh girl whom he had obssesed with practically a minute ago, lol And then the story ended there. Of course the mangaka did not really have to write a blow by blow account of his love. lol

        Like

      • Haha that’s true, though perhaps it was also constrained somewhat by the length of the manga, which is why it appears rather unrealistic as well. 8 chapters is way too short!

        Like

  3. Oooo, I have read Hiren Trip and Stardust Wink. I quite like the heroine in Stardust Wink because she’s not fickle and she genuinely seems to be confused about the way she feels and she does actually seem to give weight to her decision rather than making it on a whim and changing her mind.

    Hiren Trip, I was reluctant at first but I love the male lead. There’s a gentleness floating just out of sight so there’s loads of room for development. Plus the heroine has a purpose and an ambition which is always nice.

    I’ll check out the others 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That’s exactly the reason why I feel that Stardust Wink is worth a read too! I don’t blame her either; both she and me were both confused xD
      The reluctance for me in Hiren Trip was the length of it, haha! Yep I thought the chemistry between the hero and heroine had a pleasant sense to it too 🙂
      Sure! They are really good as well 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      • I thought the guys in Stardust Wink needed to stop trying to make her decisions for her. She’s perfectly capable of making up her own mind, even if it takes her forever to get there. I feel her pain.

        Yeah 8 chapters is not really enough for me! But that chemistry was great and I liked the art 😀

        I’ll start them ASAP assuming I make it out of MARS alive!

        xx

        Liked by 1 person

      • That’s a good way to put it! Its true that they were all trying to set the path for her etc. when all she needs is time on her own to think through things and be clear.
        Art was beautiful in Hiren Trip; though you’ll probably be even more excited with the art in Renren Zakari xD Oh man, I think I am still recovering from MARS! xx

        Like

  5. I love Cat Street and Hiren Trip as well (didn’t realize it was finished until I read this post and quickly went to finish it!) I definitely want to try some of the other ones as well 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment