Manga Number 14: Sakura Saku This one was nice. The female lead was particularly refreshing; positive, proactive, good morals, but also a well-rounded person with troubles and insecurities. The male lead seemed nice as well, if a bit generic in the design department.😅 Good comic timing, too.
Manga Number 15: Pink Candy Kiss. A #Yuri pick this time, though it's unfortunately not the best the genre has to offer. It avoids being super trashy like Netsuzuo Trap or Citrus, thank god, but the art is inconsistent and the writing is just not good. Extremely guilty of "tell, don't show".
Manga Number 16: Spacewalking With You. Mangaka sure like writing about outcasts in astronomy clubs, huh? Anyway, this one was heartwarming. The art is a bit loosey-goosey for my tastes, but the writing is quite nice. Very empathetic and good natured, especially regarding its neurodivergent lead.
Manga Number 17: Kowloon Generic Romance Probably the most frustrating thing I've read all year. The art is a fantastic and beautiful pastiche of 80s manga and anime, and it is utterly wasted by a vague, uninteresting "dystopian" mystery and a vicerally repellent romance with an awful male lead.
Manga Number 18:It's All Your Fault! So, this one is a well-meaning (I think) attempt to destigmatize cosplaying in general and more...ecchi cosplaying specifically, but the characters and dialog aren't really working for me and the art is fine, but nothing special. I'll pass on this one.
Manga Number 19: Tower Dungeon. A dark fantasy in the vein of Dark Souls (not a compliment), it's main draws are the monster and environment designs, while character art is far less distinct. The writing feels....odd. At times subtle, at other times awkward. Not terrible, but I won't keep with it.
Manga Number 20: Choking on Love Despite having the *WORST* English title I've ever seen in a Manga (How is this not the title to a BDSM book?) this book is a relatively dull and inoffensive romance that feels like an otome visual novel, quirky, overly-physical male lead and all. Not my jam.
Manga Number 21: Takahashi from the Bike Shop. Not great, but good. A lot of romances get a undue praise from folks for being "adult" just because their leads are older (which really isn't that unique) but this one feels like a (mostly) genuine portrait of life and romance as a Kansai woman.
