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Sep 10, 2013
Anta Nankai Iranai is, first and foremost, a collection of oneshots all about "infidelity" in some form of another. It's about relationships and what happens when feelings stray.
Some are mild, where a person in a relationship develops feelings for another person (usually for the friend of their boyfriend or girlfriend). Others are outright cheating. The four oneshots basically approach the scenario a little bit differently, but they share a common theme of heartache and the difficulties of things falling apart when stuff like this happens.
In that sense, it sets the stories apart from the usual shoujo romance manga (which is a nice change of pace).
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It's also the type of premise that I can imagine being something very angsty and dramatic if written out as a lengthier series (which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your preferences).
The big downfall, however, is that it all feels bland. The stories aren't bad, but they're not particularly good either. They're, at best, mediocre. And outside of the premise, it feels unfortunately forgettable to me.
I think a large part of why is because of the characters. I don't care for any of them, so while the situations they come across are supposed to be sad, it failed at getting much reaction out of me.
For stories that are supposed to be about the heartache of feelings changing, it doesn't bode well when I don't feel the sadness of the characters. I know they're supposed to love each other, but I don't feel the love. I see the tears and I see the drama, but they all fell flat.
It could also be that the short length didn't allow for the stories to do the characters or the more complicated premise justice. Either way, the stories are missing the "oomph" that makes readers either cry, cheer, want to rip things apart, etc.
As I've said, though, it isn't a bad read. If you're interested in stories that explore themes of feelings straying, then perhaps this collection could do more for you than it did me. Just don't expect anything grand or feeling-shifting.
For me, it stands firmly in the very average rating of 5.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 16, 2013
[There's a TL;DR at the end if you need it.]
I had the displeasure of coming across these oneshots today, before realizing that I had apparently already read and given this collection a rating of 3 many years ago. After re-reading a couple of them, I feel like I was actually being too generous.
My rating has now dropped down to a 1, and it has the dubious honor of being the first manga in my list with this score. I figured I may as well throw in a review while I'm at it.
Chances are, this will be one of those reviews where I'm going to try
...
(but probably fail) to be objective about my dislike.
Netsu-Ai Shisen (also the title for one of the stories) is a collection of short SMUT oneshots. These particular oneshots share a common theme of guys attempting to conquer the heroine through sex. And I don't really mean this in a "let's have hot sex and fall in love while we're at it" way... I mean it in the "I'm going to force you to have sex, and by terrorizing you and making you cry tears of extreme fear, you will somehow discover you love me and my rapist's ways."
Yep, we're talking blatant and indisputable rape here - not the dominant sex that skirts the border of noncon so common in smut, and not even the hentai kind that tries to disguise the forced aspect by making the girl enjoy the sex so much that people argue it's not rape if she enjoys it.
But this isn't hentai anyway. This is supposed to be smutty romance. I don't know about you, but crying and shaking uncontrollably from fear isn't a very stellar example of enjoyment nor is it a sign of budding love.
What makes it doubly distasteful is the fact that even if you strip away the rape, it'd still make for a sorry collection of oneshots and a very bad excuse for a romance.
The characters are painful to read. The heroines all have the same exact vapid and meek personality, while the guys are creeps, jerks, and of course, rapists. Granted, I don't know if the girls were always meek and vapid or if it's due to the fact that the guys have scared them so much they can hardly be themselves anymore. Either way, there's no development to show otherwise, and what we get is meek and vapid.
Story-wise, shallow isn't a strong enough word to describe it. They attempt to show that these heroines end up falling in love with these guys through the process of being raped a few times. That's all. We're talking purely the supposedly amazing power of rape here. The only difference between the stories is the basic premise/setting (and perhaps how rape-like the rapes are). Getting to know one another? What's that?
The guys, funnily enough, do the raping because they love the girls and want them in any way possible. (I guess I should add obsessive and controlling to the characterization for the heroes.) Not my idea of a good romance OR a good smut.
Needless to say, I would give a 0 for the enjoyment, the characters, and the story if I could.
The only not-terrible thing about this collection is the art. It's decent, though it has a bit of that dated shoujo smut look about it. It's occasionally pretty in a way that I imagine some people would quite like. It's just not the kind of style I particularly like, so it's somewhat average and forgettable in my book. Also, her characters have the tendency to look pretty much identical regardless which story you're reading.
The smut is a tad boring (rape-ishness aside), so if you're hoping to read this for smutty goodness, you may as well move on. That is, unless non-consensual sex between a dominating male and a helpless female is your cup of tea.
It isn't mine, obviously.
Coupled with all the other flaws, Netsu-Ai Shisen gets a 1 (a rating of "Appalling") from me.
* TL;DR: Cookie-cutter characters of the vapid/useless variety for girls and the creepy controlling type for guys. Average art that has the potential to be pretty for some. Zero plot, the smut is blah, and the moral of the story appears to be this: "Raping is a pretty successful way of getting a girl to fall in love with a guy."
** NOTE: My reread, new rating, and this review is largely based on Sensei wa Boku no Mono, Netsu-Ai Shisen, and some parts of Amai Fukushuu. It is always possible that the other two remaining stories in the collection do not actually contain any non-consensual sex. I no longer remember nor do I want to. Refreshing my memory for 3 out of 5 stories for this particular collection is already more than too much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Apr 6, 2011
I read this some years back but came across it accidentally again and wanted to add a little review for this lovely collection of short stories while my memory of it is still fresh. I won't be repeating the summaries (the above synopsis said it all just nicely) nor will I go into detail for each of the individual stories. Instead, I'm covering them as a whole because I think they have a lot in common - specifically the feeling they give off, their strengths, and why I find myself quite fond of them.
Honestly, the plot/stories themselves aren't exceptionally unique. But at the same time,
...
a "unique" plot is rather non-existent in shoujo manga nowadays - everything's pretty much been covered before. So what's left to make something stand out in a simplistic romance story falls on its execution and characters... and those areas, I think Ai no Tame ni did a wonderful job with.
For such short stories, Kawahara Kazune did really well with making her main characters come to life. What's more, she also managed to give some depth to the relationships between them. There's something quite endearing about the way she portrays her characters, their backgrounds, how they come to like each other, and how they eventually come together. And it didn't feel especially rushed. That, to me, is quite rare - even more so with short stories such as these.
I think what made me like the stories so much is the warm feeling they give throughout, from beginning to end. They're sweet without being cheesy, the events that happen aren't overly dramatic, and the characters are endearing in their own way. Nothing is over the top, and at the end of each story, it leaves you smiling.
The art, I felt, complemented the stories quite well. It's soft, just right, and doesn't "over-sparkle" like some shoujo manga can when trying to emphasize that lovey-lovey doki-doki feeling. Sometimes, just a look between the characters spoke very clearly without words - something I think is likely attributed to the drawing.
Overall, if you like to read short high school romance stories that leave you feeling content and warm without fussy drama, then give this one a go. The stories mostly cover the process of falling in love and getting that chance at a relationship (in 3 different ways and scenarios), so it doesn't cover the "beyond" - but it'll be perfect if you just want a quick yet satisfying read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 5, 2011
A review for this manga, in my opinion, could easily be summed up with one word. Annoying.
In brief, the story is about a delinquent who suddenly confesses to an "ordinary" girl. She finds him repulsive and wants nothing to do with him, but then immediately realizes she has feelings for him after she rejected him. The rest of the manga basically covers the ups and downs of their relationship and the problems she has going out with a guy like him.
Sounds pretty typical, doesn't it? I should say now that the summary is the best part of this manga. Everything else goes downhill from the
...
get go.
First, characterization. Horrible. Sonoko has got to be one of the worst heroines I've ever come across. The entire story is pretty much based on her feelings of shame and embarrassment at having a delinquent boyfriend. She hurts him repeatedly and goes to extremes in trying to hide the fact that he's her boyfriend. She's constantly questioning how and why she ended up with a guy like him, how shameful he is, how her life would end if anyone finds out, blah blah rinse repeat. It could have been tolerable and even understandable in the beginning, except this happens throughout the entire story. In fact, the increasingly hurtful stuff she does to her boyfriend is what drives the WHOLE story forward.
Narusawa (the delinquent boyfriend), on the other hand, is very bland as a character. To begin with, we were never shown why he fell in love with Sonoko. That, in itself, isn't a big deal as most short shoujo stories are like this. The problem is how scripted his actions feel, like he exists just for the story's sake. He pops in, falls in love after seeing her for the first time (when he had just finished beating some people up and she was completely terrified), acts like a total idiot in love half the time, while the other half was being "stunned" and hurt by yet another stupid thing that Sonoko did, walks off all depressed until Sonoko runs to him in tears and he's immediately all smiles in his idiotic glory again. It's all very one-dimensionally robotic. Like Sonoko, this is also how he is throughout the entire story as well.
So is there any redeeming quality about this manga? There is, a little, which is why I'm giving it a 2 instead of a 1.
The manga, when you strip away Sonoko and the horribly bad romance, has a couple of funny moments. Narusawa and his delinquent buddies are hilarious sometimes with some of the weird stuff they get up to - mostly in that loser delinquent Yakuza-wannabe way. If you like that sort of humor, a scene or two in there may be your saving grace for this manga. Unfortunately, there's always Sonoko's whining to immediately kill any joy you may have had.
Art-wise, it isn't bad nor is it particularly exceptional either. Decent is a word that comes to mind. That's about all I have to say for the art.
All in all, the only thing this manga did for me was annoy the crap out of me. If it weren't because it's only 2 volumes, I would've stopped reading it before I was even done with the 1st. I should add that I read a lot of one-shots and short shoujo stories. I'm well aware of their shortcomings but still enjoy them in general. Love Junky, however, was simply impossible for me to even overlook the bad side - not when the entire manga IS the bad side.
If you enjoy reading a manga about a shallow girl stomping all over a guy's feelings and good intentions over and over and over again, then by all means, give this one a try. Otherwise, I'd skip it. There are plenty of better ones out there.
* Yes, I'm aware this probably wasn't a very well-written review. I'm just now realizing that it's quite hard writing a decent review for a manga I find so horrible.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Nov 5, 2008
Cat Street's story starts and centers around a 16 year old girl, Keito, who used to be a famous actress when she was young but had retired early due to a traumatic incident that happened while she was in the entertainment industry. As a result, she had completely isolated herself from people and the society (school included) for 7 years and now passes her days doing absolutely nothing- lost, lonely, and without a purpose. A stray cat, so to speak.
The story, however, truly begins when she comes upon a special school called El Liston, a free school for "strays" like herself, people who don't really
...
belong or fit in anywhere. There, she meets Rei, Momiji, and Kouichi... and through them and other people, she learns to live, finds courage and eventually, her own direction (and of course, love too.)
Note: There shouldn't be any spoilers. Apologies, however, for the lengthy review ahead (usually not the kind I write).
Story (9.7): I'll say now, though, that while the summary is accurate, it does the story no justice (as seems to be the case with many great manga). The premise is exactly that... just a premise. It's a simple story but yet it is so much more- one that can't be conveyed but rather, must be felt by reading it yourself.
There is depth and meaning in the story, the kind that is often lacking in typical shoujo teen manga. There's love, but it's not your typical HS girl meets boy and hopes he returns her feelings kinda thing either. Rather, the best way I can describe the romance in this story is something like a journey- both in discovering oneself, the other person, and love itself. There's drama, but it doesn't drag nor is it the meaningless melodramatic kind that happens for the sake of conflict and cliffhangers. There's balance as well. Cat Street isn't all about romance, all about friendship, or all about drama... it's everything blended in at just the right amount.
I said earlier that the romance in this story is like a journey, but to be more accurate, I should say the entire series is like a journey. The timeline spans several years, from mid-teens to early 20s and utilizes time-skips towards the latter part of the story to move things forward. The pacing is great and the plot is constantly moving forward. The ending is fulfilling as well. While I wish there were more of Cat Street for me to devour, I wasn't left with the feeling that the manga needed to be longer or shorter. It all wrapped up beautifully, with a meaningful conclusion and a certain symbolism that really just fits the story, the characters, and even the title of the manga.
Character (10): Loving all the characters in a manga isn't something that often happens to me, but Kamio-sensei manages it so easily with all the personalities she has created for Cat Street. Again, I must emphasize the depth here. The heroine has true strength... the kind that comes from deep within and not the so often misunderstood strength where a heroine is depicted as strong just because she can yell, get violent, and kick some ass.
There's a theme of trying your best and not giving up, but what's great about it is the fact that the characters treat this realistically and in a less shallow way (as opposed to countless "I don't think I can stop loving him after all so I'm going to keep pestering him until he falls in love with me" sort of thing). I guess what I'm trying to say is that the characters all feel genuine and human to me. The way they handle their problems, the way their personalities grow and develop throughout the series, and how each and every character has their own distinctive personality. I'm touched by all of them in one way or another- even the so-called villains. There are no villains for the sake of being villains type of characters here at all, and that to me is a mark of good characterization.
Art (9): I'm not one for saying much about the art unless it completely blows me away with its awesomeness or there's an aspect of it that I felt I needed or wanted to mention. So I'll just say that I personally adore it. The lines are clean and the scenes are nicely-done, with simple but good detail and without it being overcrowded. For those who have read HYD, Kamio-sensei's art is similar to how it was at the end of the series... likely even better actually.
My favorite aspect of the art is how all the characters (especially the main ones) each have their own distinctive looks and style. I recognize them all right off the bat, unlike some other shoujo manga where I sometimes have trouble being sure about who's who due to the almost identical appearances.
Overall (10): What else can I say? I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Cat Street... there was never a dull moment and each development was simply heartfelt. This is a case of where the story, the characters, and everything else just comes together perfectly- the kind that makes the leap from great to a masterpiece.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 31, 2008
Ayu is a teenage girl whose life seems to be filled with only despair and emptiness, and she deals with it by prostituting herself. The story, from beginning to end, basically follows her life as she struggles through it- the people she meets, the choices she makes, and the impact those encounters had on her character and life.
With a premise like that, it is likely already obvious that this is not exactly a happy and light-hearted story. In fact, reading this manga is almost like watching a disastrous car accident about to happen- you know it's coming, you cringe, you can't do anything about it
...
except look on.
Most people who talk about how sad this manga is will likely relay the events that took place, the endless string of terrible things that kept happening... but for me, it was human nature itself and how desperation can spawn some of the worst choices a person can make. It's like watching something that could've been right but knowing (and seeing) that it has the very real possibility of taking a swift turn for the worst.
That said, I felt this aspect is both the strength and the weakness of this story. The author does a good job of touching you with Ayu's story, but at the same time, also did a tad bit of an unnecessary overkill in some parts. This story is something like a lesson in life- the choices you make have consequences and Ayu's life is like a string of cause and effect. To that effect, it works great... but I found that the author would throw a tragedy or two in there (to add onto an already massive pile) that kind of fell in the category of "shit happens"- which is fine, except for this type of story, it felt flat, forced, and unnecessary.
As a whole? It's a story with a great message, delivered without pulling any punches. If anything, that in itself already makes it worthwhile to read. I did, however, debate on whether to give this a rating of an 8 or a 9. A personal rating is an 8 in my book... but I think that has a lot to do with where I was/am in life when I read this, as well as, my age (over 30). To be fair, I think the story itself accomplishes and does well at what it had set out to do. For that, I give it a 9 (or an 8.5 if I could've done so)
Note: We're talking about a girl who sells her body here. Expect to see sex scenes and crude behavior.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 28, 2008
There are manga that leave behind strong or deep impressions, often those that would be called a masterpiece. H3 School isn't one of those, but oddly enough, I find that aspect to be one of this manga's redeeming points. At its heart, H3 is best described as a fun read... and well, sometimes that's exactly all you may want or need.
The premise of the story is interesting enough, as it starts with an all-girl school and the announcement that it will soon be merged with an all-boy school (and of course the problems and benefits that will come attached to that change). In that
...
sense, the setting is refreshing as it allows different ways for the story to take off as opposed to the usual high school shoujo setting.
The main thing, however, that makes H3 a fun read for me is the characters. Hanabi is unlike the slew of shoujo heroines we usually see. She's a true tomboy, fails at being a girly girl, and has an actual beauty issue (which she deals with in a hilarious yet frighteningly realistic ways at times). Yasuaki, too, has his quirks. At first glance, he seems to be like the typical cool bishounen with jerk tendencies... until you quickly realize that he's actually a really nice guy who happens to have girl phobia.
With 5 volumes, the story moves fairly quick in a straightforward way with some relationship bumps along the way. There's a nice mix of comedy and romance... times where you'd laugh out loud and times where, perhaps, you'd grin and swoon a little from sweet gestures. There's definitely some hilarious moments though, just random little things that can crack you up unexpectedly. Unfortunately, there was one small bit of dubious drama towards the end but at least it zipped by pretty fast. I say dubious because the conflict, while standard in most shoujo manga, seemed a bit out of place in H3.
Again, H3 isn't the type of manga that's meant to leave a lasting impact on its readers. Rather, it's more the type that's great for passing an afternoon in an enjoyable way without too much fuss. It's romantic, hilarious at times, has hot bishounen, a heroine with flaws that really is cute and not idiotic, a beautifully scary student council president, and tons of cute little chicks (as in chickens). For a shoujo manga, what's not to enjoy?
For a general rating, H3 would probably be a 7 - good but certainly isn't exceptional or what one would call a "quality" read. But for its enjoyment, I gave it an 8 here.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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