Otaku Magazine ISSUE #5 July 2014

◄What To Read◄

◄What To Read◄

        We all need a lazy afternoon now and again. As our exams finish and the year comes to a close, what better way is there to relax than with a quick, adorable manga?

        Let me tell you something. You can keep your poolside books. You can keep your silly celebrity stories and your badly-written romances. I know what I'll be reading when it finally decides to stop raining. 

        Here, in short, are a list of my top picks for those lazy summer afternoons we're all looking forward to having right now. All of these are completely translated and none of them are ridiculously long. Most of them are also really, really girly. Sometimes, you just need a girly romance to get you through the day, okay? Trust me, these fun little stories are far better than anything you randomly pick up in Smith's because it has a sparkly cover. I've read them. I would know.

        So, in alphabetical order, here are some manga that you can count on for a few hours of fun. Yes, they are all romances. Screw the rules. I have no money.

Please Note: If I have marked the series as [R], this means that it contains either nudity or adult themes. If you're not comfortable with this, please avoid the manga or you will end up reaching for the brain bleach in a very major way.

Hana no Kishi
Length: 29 Chapters
Genres: Romance, School, Shoujo, Gender Bender

        Why haven't more people read this? Honestly, this is a very, very good story. It's got it all; action, drama, intense emotional highs . . . what more could you possibly ask for in a Shoujo? More sparkles? Bishounen? Believe me, there's plenty of bishounen in this manga. Plenty.

        Yes, you did read that correctly. There is some quite decently-done action in this manga. Why? Well, basically, this story is all about a group of 'knights' vying for the honour to protect a very famous family. Some of these knights have noble intentions. Others want to use the family's power for themselves. Of course, this doesn't end well.

        The story revolves around three characters. The first, Ran Kurono, is the cross-dressing first knight of the famous Ohtori family. The second, Sei Ohtori, is the 'Princess' of the tale. The third, Sei's troublemaking fiance Ibara Tennou, rounds off the trio as the 'Prince'.

        Intrigued yet? I bet you are. Let me add one more surprise. These knights actually (yes, really) have real-life sword duels to compete for the honour of first knight. People get injured. It happens. People fall in love. It happens. By the end of the manga, you'll feel like you've been pulled through an emotional rollercoaster. No, really. You will. If you don't believe me, read it and find out for yourself. This is a true hidden gem among shoujo.

Kanojo Iro no Kanojo [R]
Length: 18 Chapters
Genres: Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life

        For the more mature readers who are probably lurking on this site somewhere, here's a story about two very different women who somehow become friends. This is basically a completed, more concise version of Nana so if you liked Nana, you will definitely go for this.

        Yuuka is a focused martial artist who hopes to win big at her next MMA tournament. Mayu, on the other hand, is a very lazy girl who can't focus on anything. As they end up living next to one another, separated only by a thin curtain, you'd expect them to argue like crazy. This, of course, is exactly what they end up doing. However, as the events of the story unfold, they realise that they need one another more than they realised.

        This manga, I will warn you, is an emotional one. At times, you'll be tearing your hair out in frustration and practically screaming at the characters to get their act together. The main two characters felt very real to me, real enough that I've never entirely been able to get them out of my head since. If you want a story as close to real life as possible, this is the one for you.