Manga Classics: Romeo and Juliet by Stacy King

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm a fan of the Manga Classics that's why I'm already aware that the publisher, Udon Entertainment, always use the original text from the book they were adapting. I know Romeo and Juliet but I still haven't read the book either watch any stage play or movie adaptation, hence, I'm eager to check out this manga adaptation.

This is the first time that I've rated a Manga Classics low because of it's not that easy to comprehend what the characters are saying because they are in Early Modern English. Just like what I've mentioned, I'm fully aware that the publisher never makes any alterations to the dialogues because they use the original format. I could understand some of the conversations in the story however, I fail to grasp several parts. Thankfully, I still got to follow the story through the illustrations.

If there would be any future plans of Udon Entertainment to adapt other works of William Shakespeare, hopefully, they will try to make the dialogues easy to understand because I'm positive that it will be more marketable even to middle-graders.

The Lion and the Bride #1 by Mika Sakurano

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I've requested a reading copy of this manga from the publisher, I knew that the plot might be a just like some romcom TV series. But I what I didn't expect is that even though that it's like that, reading has taken me by surprised me because of how entertained I was on reading the banters between Yua and her stepson/classmate Subaru.

As for me, I think Yua's hasty decision of accepting Ryo's marriage proposal is a big no-no. And I bet that there's no love involved when Yua decided to get married. Meanwhile, Subaru mentioned that Ryo, his father, only pity Yua because she's already an orphan and that no one's there to take care of her. A bit harsh but I think I agree with Subaru's opinion.

In addition, it's quite predictable that there would be a love triangle in Ryo, Yua, and Subaru's setup. But what's not foreseeable is whether Yua and Ryo will divorce in the end because Yua chose Subaru, or Yua will stay with Ryo. And I reckon that is what readers are anticipating in the succeeding volumes to be released in this manga series.

In general, if you like reading the romantic-comedy genre, The Lion and the Bride is a great manga and good for light-reading.

SOTA'S KNIFE Vol. 1 by Kei Honjo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This first volume of Sota's Knife compiles the first 11 chapters of the manga and it is about the 20-year old Sota Kitaoka from Hokkaido who became a kitchen-helper in Tomikyu, a fine dining restaurant in Tokyo. He was hired by Kyu Goro Tomita, one of the top 5 chefs in Tokyo and now he works for six months already in the said restaurant. Sota is eager to learn a lot so he trains alone after the store closed at night. His only dream is to get his family-owned restaurant back on track.

Kei Honjo beautifully illustrated each comic panel because how detailed his drawings are. So far, I consider this as the best-illustrated manga I've seen because I saw how elaborate and how much time Kei Honjo spent in drawing this — there are texture, shadows, and highlights and that shows how skillful he is in his craft. He didn't draw the illustrations hastily because anyone can see the huge effort he did especially in drawing those settings, and of the images of food.

I also learned a lot from how much the Japanese chefs exert a lot in order to prepare each dish — giving the best quality of food to the customers. Sota's humility and passion to learn is admirable also, and the camaraderie in Tomikyu will touch anyone. There are a lot of Japanese manga that turns into either anime or real live film or TV adaptation, and I wonder if there would future plans for this. Hopefully, producers would give this an opportunity but hopefully, Kei Honjo would still be part of the illustrators if it would be an anime adaptation.

Perfect World, Vol. 1 by Rie Aruga

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The hardships of being handicapped were also noted in this manga and I like how the love story between Tsugumi and Itsuki was not rush, which might start in the second volume. The story recounts how the main characters were met during their high school years and on how fate pulled them to meet again after several years. If you are just like me who enjoyed and is a fan of Jojo Moyes' best-selling novel, Me Before You, I highly recommend that you should check out this spectacular graphic novel of Rie Aruga.

Moteki, 1: Love Strikes! by Mitsurou Kubo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Moteki is a decade old manga series written by Mitsurou Kubo. It tells the story of Yukiyo Fujimoto who is no-girlfriend since birth and is in his late 20's already. Readers could see how frustrated Yukiyo is about his zero love life and how his life started to transform one day that got him entangled to several ladies.


The first volume is 438-pages but reading this will not bore readers because of how funny and how fast the story progress. If I have the chance to watch either the film adaptation or the TV series of this manga, I will try to check them out and see if they are as good as the manga version. I can't wait for the second volume of this amusing manga and hope that there will be ARC also available.

Again!! Volume 1 by Mitsurou Kubo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've never expected that I would love this first volume of this manga. I was really curious about how come the Kinichiro's high school was reset and I'm happy that I was given the chance to read this quite unexpected marvelous manga series. I hope I stumble to find the second installment because I'm really eager to know what happened.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 1 by CLAMP

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was familiar with Cardcaptor Sakura because it has a TV adaptation that was released in the 90's. I used to watch the said anime when I was a kid but I wasn't able to watch the whole series. This new season in the famous Japanese manga is a treat for fans of the said manga and anime. Although the story and the characters could be a bit childish, it is just some of the reasons why there are a lot of people who like it.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol 1 by Fujita

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I request a reading copy of this manga because of the rating and that there is a lot of feedback about it. However, I was a little bit disappointed while reading it because it was not what I've expected it to be. It is not that great and that I find nothing spectacular especially with the characters and on the flow of the story.

La Magnifique Grande Scène, Vol. 1 by Cuvie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although I'm not a fan of ballet, I'm always amazed by how graceful they perform on stage. Reading La Magnifique Grande Scene makes me respect more the ballet dancers because behind those beautiful performances and costumes is a lot of hard work and endurance. They sacrifice a lot of their time and exert a lot of effort just to achieve their dream to be a prima ballerina.

This graphic novel is about a young girl, Kanade, who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer when she saw how beautiful her neighbor, Risa, performed. She experienced a lot especially giving up already because she thought it would be just easy. Kanade was also disheartened when she was still not given the chance to wear pointe shoes just like the others. But throughout her journey, she learned a lot that all things must not be hurried — that patience and hard work really pay off in the end.