thoughts: Love Love Shock (manga)

Creator: Kurahashi Erika
Genre: romance, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 1 volume (5 chapters)



Two years ago, Natsukawa Mei confessed to a boy she liked whom she met at a summer institution. Due to her appearance and having a cold at the time, she was mistaken as a boy and crushed when the boy tells her "I'm not interested in dating guys... sorry."

But in the present day, Mei has vowed to work harder to win the heart of this boy the next time she sees him. To her surprise, Miura Azusa, that very crush of hers from two years ago, appears on television and is currently known as the vocalist of the rising band Sonic Boom. Because of this, Mei is determined to enter the next singing contest in order to get close to Miura and confess to him once again.

Unfortunately, during the competition, Mei is told by Miura that she won't be able to win if she is simply a fan trying to get close to him. He didn't recognize her at all and so Mei is even more determined to win and show him up. But just as he predicts Mei does not win and is even taunted by Miura about it. With anger and determination, she rushes up to the stage and announces that she will definitely be a singer and makes the challenge to surpass Sonic Boom one day. Because of this, one of the members of Sonic Boom is impressed and pleads to the judges to let Mei pass into the next stage and become a singer for the company.

The road is bumpy for Mei when she meets the winner of the competition, Sakuragi Riko who dislikes her immediately. But the two are thrown together into a duet to make their debut and life goes on from there. The members of Sonic Boom become close to both her and Riko and when the girls debut, they hit it big.

As the time goes by, Mei is determined to make her confession once again after she's become famous enough. But obstacles pile up, one after another, and it almost seems like Mei will never be able to get together with Miura.

This is another short and sweet story by Kurahashi Erika. Again, cute characters and character designs. Kurahashi-sensei seems to have a love for the artist industry, as many of her stories revolve around celebrities, singers, and the like.

These, I have to admit, are pretty interesting as there are so many possibilities when it comes to telling a story about people in the entertainment industry-- a la Skip Beat! Of course, this may also have to do with the fact that many Asian communities can easily scout new and young talent-- I know Hong Kong does it regularly-- and then debut them. Everyone can become a star... it's just a matter of whether or not they remain a star.

I enjoyed this story a lot and thought it was really cute. Which seems to be Kurahashi-sensei's style. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to read something short and sweet, much like Charisma Doll or even her oneshot collection, Miss Prince.

thoughts: Miss Prince (manga)

Creator: Kurahashi Erika
Genre: romance, shoujo, drama
Volumes/Chapters: 3 oneshot stories



Story 1: Miss Prince
Hisahara Koto started dating Kagawa Tatsumi for two weeks after meeting him at her workplace as a babysitter for his younger siblings. Her main concern about dating Tatsumi is that he is extremely too perfect, and compared to him, she feels like she can't keep up with him. Although she really likes him, she can't help but to wonder if he's okay with having an ordinary and plain girlfriend. Tatsumi-kun is a good guy, representative of the class, and simply great at everything he does. All of the girls admire him and unanimously decide that Koto doesn't deserve to be with Tatsumi.

Complications arise because of Koto's insecurities and interference between the "fan girls" at school. The relationship between Koto and Tatsumi seems to be hanging very loosely, not mattering that Tatsumi has never seen a problem in dating Koto in the first place. When Koto loses the ring that Tatsumi gives her, she decides that she isn't good enough for Tatsumi after all and tells him that she wants to break up.


Story 2: Strawberry Kiss
Izumi Makino spends her days looking pretty and dating a variety of boys. Because of an incident last summer involving Minato Shiraishi who kissed her while she was asleep in class, rumors spread about the two of them and Makino seems unable to ever forgive Shiraishi for this. But in the present, Minato approaches her and tells her that he was in love with her then and is still in love with her now. Though he is the last person she ever wants to see, she knows that she'll never be able to forget who stole her first kiss.

Due to a school committie event involving a tour for dating spots, Makino learns that she has been paired up with Shiraishi. She ends up having a pretty good time with him and accepts that he likes her. Deciding to give him a chance, she agrees to go on a date with him and eventually ends up falling for him slowly before their first official date when he helps her out of a tough situation. But her various boyfriends keep coming to bother her and realizing that Shiraishi must think she plays around, she promises herself that she will go on the date and confess that she has fallen for him. Unfortunately, the two are already getting off on the wrong foot and there is no telling what Shiraishi feels for her anymore because of her dating so many guys.

On the day of their date, Makino trips and falls and makes her late for her date with Shiraishi. Afraid that Shiraishi may have stopped liking her, she forces herself to hurry to the meeting place, even on her bad ankle.


Story 3: White Calendar
Yukimi Kataoka and Junya Fukino met back in elementary school only to learn that Yukimi is a whole year ahead of Junya in school. The fact, however, is that Yukimi is really only ten days older than Junya, but because of the date that he was born, he couldn't attend the same grade as Yukimi. Since their meeting, they've been inseparable and as they live next door to each other, they go to school together every morning and head home together every evening. Everyone comments that Junya and Yukimi are like brother and sister, but the two like to stress that they are the same age, even though they treat each other like kids.

At school, Yukimi is dragged into the cooking club by her friend where all the girls go to in order to find a boyfriend. After all, the cooking club classroom looks right out into the sports field and the aroma of food attracts all the boys to the window to meet the girls. Yukimi is immediately asked out by one of the boys, even though her goal in the cooking club was to show up Junya in cooking skills. On Junya's side, he has a girl attached to him claiming to be his girlfriend and badmouthing Yukimi because she is a rival as well as in the cooking club.

Jealousy unfolds when Yukimi realizes she likes Junya romantically and Junya sees Yukimi being confessed to. Of course, the two can no longer see each other as just kids again.

***

The stories in Kurahashi Erika's manga are usually sweet and cute and this collection of oneshots is no exception. Miss Prince, like any other shoujo romances is a fun read up to the end because of the simplicity of the stories and the adorable factor in the characters and their designs.

I enjoyed these stories a lot, and of the three, my favorite was White Calendar, though it is quite hard to imagine love blossoming at such a young age. It's still cute and sweet and that's what makes these oneshots such good doses of "Chicken Soup for the Hopeless Romantic's Soul."

For short stories with a good cuteness factor, I highly recommend Miss Prince to anyone.

thoughts: Charisma Doll (manga)

Creator: Kurahashi Erika
Genre: gender bender, romance, school life, shoujo
Volumes/Chapters: 2 volume (9 chapters) + extra chapter



Mizuki Sara has a secret that she's keeping from all of her classmates, her friends, and even her rival in the music industry Shidou Hayase. She is actually the currently top and going music artist Sala whom everyone is raging about because nobody knows exactly what gender Sala really is.

The idea came about when Sara was young and wanted to go into the music industry. In order for her to attract attention, her mother created a ploy wherein Sala was introduced to the public without any background information. Because of the way she dressed and the way she spoke, there was no telling whether Sala was a guy or a girl. This brought a lot of attention and now Sala is one of the rising music idols among her peers.

Sara is more than capable of securing her status with just her singing and her onstage charisma, but her mother insists that she continue to act out the persona of Sala because she lacks charisma. Without a choice in the matter, Sala remains and Sara must now juggle her worklife with her school life.

But things become complicated for her when she is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend who had dated her because she looked like Sala in the first place. Because of this little comment, Hayase, another rising star in the music industry, takes pity on Sara and makes a fool of her boyfriend by telling the public in an interview that he plays around with girls and then dumps them.

After this incident, Hayase and Sara become friends within school and Sara realizes that she's become interested in Hayase. Even before they began talking to each other, however, Sara had already been a fan of Hayase who is the main vocalist for a band called The Rise. She even shows him her fan member card, "entry number 07777."

The two get along very well as Hayase and Sara, and Hayase comments that he likes Sala's music and thinks that Sala's voice is great. Sara comments that she thinks Hayase's music is way cooler and they end up striking a really close friendship.

But as the rising star Sala, Hayase is in every way, shape and form her rival. When Hayase meets Sala for the first time, his immediate impression is that Sala is very much like a girl. And later on, he even realizes that Sala really is a girl.

The story progresses from there with Sara trying to juggle her even more complicated lifestyle as Sala and Sara, who are both friends with Hayase, without telling him the truth. The series is short and sweet, and of course, the truths are revealed in the end and the main couple end up together. There is no drama, and there is no astounding complexities to this story. Basically, this is a teenage romance filled with trivial complications easily resolved.

Charisma Doll makes a good read because it is cute and sweet.

Kurahashi Erika draws simple, but she draws pretty as well. The transitions between scenes are sometimes a little jumbled.

But Charisma Doll was one of the first shoujo manga I'd read and so I treasure it as one that I will always like. This is a very enjoyable story for those who want a short and sweet piece of work, but something longer and with a little more depth than a simple oneshot.