I do this review with
trepidation - I do dark stuff, I do weird, I do the serious but I
don’t usually do girls comics. But I’m going to do this a review of
a manga that is so overtly Shoujo and so meant for girls in general
what does it say about me???
A short synopsis is required for this story. It's based around Momo,
a girl who tans rather easily. This, and her blonde hair tends to
give people the wrong idea about her general character. Other people
see her as a beach bunny or crudely put a bit of a slut, but this
couldn't be further from the truth. She's a rather sweet girl, a little
shy but very sincere & has a bit of a temper - she's also very
much in love with a guy called Toji, but believes that Toji doesn’t
like dark-skinned girls.
Toji is a tall guy who's very straightforward & honest but not
very bright when it comes to women. Sae is her “best friend” a petite
ivory-skinned pretty girl who latched onto Momo when they started
high school and has constantly gone behind momo’s back & sniped
away at her. In general Sae is a bitch, and a devious one at that,
and for some reason she has it in for Momo (must be a girl thing).
The final member of this quartet is a guy called Kiley, a good-looking
dark-haired guy who's a bit of a playboy type who has the hots for
momo and gives her his constant and unwelcome attention. Despitethis,
he's very sharp & perceptive, shown by the way he susses Sae immediately.
This story has love triangles written all over it - its full of mistakes
& misunderstandings with Momo at the heart of it all. The first
two volumes art about Momo expressing her feelings to Toji & messing
up with the inadvertent help of the other two characters . Through
a misunderstanding & blatant opportunism Kiley kisses Momo and
is seen by Sae who has guessed who Momo really likes and starts spreading
rumours & lies around. I’m not sure how much of this is based
on real-life experiences but the dialogue is snappy and the artwork
is good, especially Momo, and for all you fangirls Toji & Kiley
are definitely eye candy. But for me the most interesting character
is Sae, because from the start she constantly snipes away at Momo
who, whilst sweet, is no door mat (despite being prone to emotional
outbursts). I’d love to know why she is the way she is but we’ll find
that out later on.
Toji is a bit of plank, though very honest with his feelings. He falls
for Sae’s little ways and doesn't notice Momo - I guess some guys
just can’t pick up on these sort of things. Kiley is a bit of a dark
horse, likes to play the field but he is really attuned to his emotional
side & sees through Sae’s deceptions quite easily.
My honest opinion “cough cough” is that I really like it and I’ll
hopefully get more of this story in the future. I usually hate
soap operas but I’ll think I stick with this one. The best part for
me is watching Sae constantly meddling & interfering in Momo’s
affairs - whether its jealousy or something more we'll just have to
see!!
Score 8.5/10 – It has nice artwork, interesting characters,
plenty of scope for twists & turns later on, fast pace and one
or two very poignant observations about first love.
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