thoughts: Spicy Pink (manga)

As a treat to my readers (population: 2?) I've decided to do a multiple posting of a few selected Kurahashi Erika-sensei manga as well as one Yoshizumi Wataru manga.

Basically this is my apology for being "gone" for the first two weeks of November even though I promised a lot of posts. As life plays it, I have work, work, and more work, and then I have homework. In the coming year, I will also be quite busy as more school work comes to me in the form of a new degree program.

And since I have no pressing readership duties, I figure that I can put off this blog if necessary. After all, this is basically something for me to do while I'm bored anyway. Right?

Aside from that, while I have at least two items I would like to post during December, I know that I may have to stall for a while. And so depending on my status, there may be no posting in December, and if so, there will only be two items... three at the most. I will try my hardest to create a spotlight for December as well, but I promise nothing.

Thank you for all you support up to now... for anyone who actually reads this blog. This week will be full of thoughts and first impressions. And the November spotlight may be scooted to the last week of the month, as has been the issue.

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Creator: Yoshizumi Wataru
Genre: josei, romance, shoujo, comedy
Volumes/Chapters: 2 volumes (12 chapters)



Endou Sakura is a twenty-six year old shoujo mangaka who, after a serious relationship ended with her high school sweetheart, never bothered with another boyfriend. But then one night, her friend, Misono asks her to help fill a seat at a goukon and she agrees. It is there where she meets Koreeda Iku, a plastic surgeon who gives her a bad first impression by telling her what she should do with her face to look prettier.

Determined that she would happily never see him again after that night, she is surprised to find him surprising her with a visit as she sits at a local cafe planning her next manga. He tells her that he fell for her and that he would like her to be his girlfriend. Wanting a little bit of romance in her life in order to aid her in writing shoujo manga, Sakura agrees. She later learns that he too had had a reason for wanting a girlfriend, and on top of that, other complications arise as the two go through the relationship.

This particular manga was fun to read through because it was more down to earth than a lot of the other shoujo manga I've read (as oneshots or short stories); and this one is also filed under the genre of josei, which is a demographic aimed at older women and their love lives.

Yoshizumi-sensei not only draws her characters and settings to detail, but also creates characters and situations that are a little easier to grasp. Character's feelings are conveyed in a clearer, more precise manner.

In Spicy Pink, our two main characters are always at each other's throats when they aren't being lovey-dovey, and that's because Sakura is depicted as a stubborn yet carefree girl who has accomplished her dream of becoming a mangaka. Koreeda Iku is a plastic surgeon, and whether or not he likes this profession is in question since he had inherited his family's business. He is rather condescending in his tone when speaking with Sakura, and he's also rather aloof when it comes to their relationship.

It's a fun little combination, and the whole story basically follows the two as they learn to fall in love, learn more about each other, and go through the happy times and the complications together. Even though this is labeled as shoujo manga, and all shoujo romances are entitled to a happily ever after with the main characters, it was a little hard to predict how the end would come out when a third party joined for romantic interference.

But alas, happily ever after did happen and I'm grateful for that.

On the side, Koreeda Iku's younger sister, Risa, meets Sakura with glee as she is an eternal fan of Sakura's shoujo manga. Through Risa, Sakura learns about Koreeda's ex-girlfriend who passed away, Natsuko, and because of this incident, one of their obstacles forms. Also through Risa, Sakura meets her ex from highschool, Akira who is interested in dating Risa.

Another side story involves Sakura's mangaka friend, Misono and her relationship with Sugioka who had lied to her about being a doctor. The reasons that Misono always wants a rich boyfriend is because she has expensive taste as a mangaka, and whenever a man realizes this, even though Misono can afford everything she wants, they don't want to bother paying for it. So they leave her. Sugioka turns out to be a bookstore clerk and afraid that he'll leave her one day after learning about her expensive living, Misono leaves him first.

The story of Spicy Pink is full of twists and turns and makes for good drama if it would ever be adapted into live action. On top of the complicated romances, we also get a sneak peek into a "manga" version of mangaka lifestyle from brainstorming ideas, getting ideas rejected, receiving inspiration, and finally meeting deadlines at the last minute.

I, for one, have always enjoyed Yoshizumi Wataru's work due to the stories, the artwork, and how cute some of the characters can be. Much like many others, Yoshizumi-sensei is an excellent bishoujo/bishounen artist.

As of present, I am still waiting for some of her other works to be translated in order to be able to read them. I would suggest Spicy Pink to anyone who is interested in a cute love story.

thoughts: Random Walk (manga)

Okay, so I took a few more days off from blogging than I intended to. But have no fear, Ani is back and she's got quite a few posts up her sleeve. Not only that, but I may even start writing those features I've promised as well as finally posting that Amatsuki thoughts post I've been holding since the creation of anicabyss.

But anyway...




Creator: Yoshizumi Wataru
Genre: romance, shoujo, slice of life, school life, drama
Volumes/Chapters: 3 volumes (15 chapters with extra ending)


Ever since reading PxP, I ended up becoming a fan of Yoshizumi-sensei's work. Her character designs are very pretty and very cute, her stories are usually quite laxed with a made for drama feel, and her female protagonists are typically pretty strong-headed types. Her artwork is great, in my opinion, as there isn't too much noise in the background and a good amount of attention to detail.


Random Walk is a cute little story that centers around a girl named Yuka who goes through several relationships which end up in heartbreak for her each time. But because her father had told her to "experience good love so that you can be a good person" Yuka-chan seems quite ready to brave the topsy-turvy storms of having a love relationship with boys. Throughout the three volumes, she falls in love quite readily with some of the guys who walk into her life including an old boyfriend who had been caught cheating on her before as well as a boy who already has a five year relationship with another girl.

All-in-all, the manga is just another cute story to pass the time. The only thing that would keep one hooked to Random Walk is the idea that Yuka-chan needs to find a boyfriend at the end, at the very least. I felt very sorry for her throughout and only hoped that she would finally find someone.

I have to say that Yuka's choice in boys are quite... bad.

The first candidate was the son of a friend of her father's. Shiki Nozomu is a second year at her high school whom she meets for the first time when she and her friend Touko go to a karaoke. Touko had planned on playing the meet, play and ditch card on Nozomu and his friend so that they wouldn't have to pay for anything, but end up getting caught. Yuka later learns that Nozomu goes to her school and is the son of her father's friend who wants her to meet and date his son. And so when she reveals this as well as showing Nozomu the letter of recommendation that his father wrote, they agree to try dating. When they finally become serious, it appears that Nozomu is not only not serious about Yuka-chan, but he also ends up falling for another girl he meets at the library.

And thus ends the first love story in Yuka-chan's high school career.

As she is crying over her break-up with Nozomu, the second love story walks passed her in the form of Furuya Kaito, a third year in her high school. She meets him the second time outside when she's photographing a ladybug, and then the third time she meets him is at her step-mother, Youko-mama's studio where he makes his first move, kissing her and telling her that he thought she was cute. The relationship would have progressed quite nicely except for the fact that we learn that Kaito already has a girlfriend and this girlfriend is the head of the photography club Yuka just joined, a girl named Saori who is very nice and very kind to Yuka. Thus, even as Yuka knows this, she begins to date Kaito while feeling extremely guilty as Saori and Kaito have been together for a couple years.

As this relationship was doomed to end in the beginning, I was pretty shocked that Yuka actually went through with it. While it was true that Kaito really expressed genuinely that he was in love with Yuka, that still didnt' change the face that he already has a girlfriend whom he is also in love with. That said, he was quite pushy and I think that that was what got Yuka interested in him as she's the type to give in to someone as pushy as him.

The last of Yuka-chan's heartbreaks had also been the first. In the second year of junior high, she met a boy named Tsutsui Hikaru who fell for her and came on strong. Because of this, she ended up falling for him as well since his pushy personality won her over. But later on, she found him cheating on her with a tutor and so the two broke up. At present day, Hikaru is back and he wants to do things over with Yuka. But lo and behold, of course, this relationship does not play out the way Yuka wants and so she is left broken hearted again. In the end, Hikaru ended up choosing another girl over her.

To be honest, I'm all for giving second chances and all, but this relationship was kind of short and ridiculous considering how much time Hikaru spent trying to get Yuka to go out with him again. And then he just turns around and breaks her heart all over again.

By this time in the storyline, I pretty much predicted the ending very easily.

Throughout, we are introduced to all of Yuka's friends including an older ex-stepbrother of hers from her father's second marriage. Even after the divorce, Yuka still keeps in contact with her second stepmother, Sachie-mama, and her father had kept in contact with Touwa, the stepbrother. Upon seeing how Yuka easily spouts off her relationships to him, it wasn't hard to guess who the main couple in the end would be.

I would have to say, even though it was highly predictable, it was also quite sudden as Yuka had always mentioned that she and Touwa never got along with each other in the past. Although we do learn that Touwa had been opposed to the marriage between his mother and Yuka's father because he already had a crush on Yuka.

Very cute story, very cute characters. There's little else to say about this manga, and I think I've already said too much.

The manga also boasts the side stories concerning the love lives of Yuka's friends, Negishi Touko and her on again off again boyfriend, Chiba Hirotaka and his relationships, as well as Ishimara Katsura and her little endearing love story with a student teacher.

Overall, the manga was fun to read and I enjoyed watching Yuka go through her high school so dazzlingly. I don't approve of some of her boyfriends, but that's really something I can't really criticize. It's not a must read as far as the story goes, but if you're a fan of Yoshizumi-sensei or a fan of cute shoujo manga, I would highly recommend this one to anyone.

At least for the fangirls out there, there is a good select amount of bishounen goodness in the entire story altogether. lol