By REBECCA P.
“Ayumu Shiiba is studying for the all-important high school entrance exams. She is struggling to get by, but thankfully has help from her best friend Shii-chan, who is at the top of their class. But when the test results come back, their friendship falls apart — Ayumu surpasses Shii-chan’s scores and gets into her high school of choice while Shii-chan doesn’t!
Losing Shii-chan is so painful for Ayumu that she starts cutting her wrists for comfort. Hoping for a fresh start, Ayumu arrives at her new high school and finally opens up to a new friend, Manami. But will Manami prove to be the friend that Ayumu truly needs or send her further in a downward spiral?”
My thoughts
Life focuses on Ayumu who is studying for her high school entrance exams. She isn’t the best student, but her best friend, Shii-chan, offers to help when she learns Ayumu wants to get into the elite school she’s applying for. While Ayumu gets in, and Shii-chan doesn’t, Shii-chan is devastated and breaks her friendship with Ayumu. This has a devastating effect on the young Ayumu who begins cutting herself to ease the pain. When she arrives at her new school she has difficulty fitting in until Manami befriends her. This is one manga not for the faint of heart.
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By REBECCA P.
My thoughts
Najika is the daughter of two pastry chefs who died when she was young. Shortly after their death she met a young boy who cheered her up and gave her a spoon. The spoon had the emblem of Seika Academy, a prestigious school in Tokyo, and she was determined to find her prince. Oh, and she loves to cook and is amazing at it! Rest assured, Kitchen Princess isn’t just another shojo title. While it does have some cliches, it’s handled in a fashion that makes it new and refreshing in the genre.
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By REBECCA P.
My thoughts
Train Man grabbed me from the get-go for some reason. The story itself is an uncliche storyline stemming from a cliché story plot. Geeky guy meets beautiful woman. Guy has no clue what to do. However, it’s not that the geeky guy with a beautiful girl is anything new in manga, but Train Man does give some interesting twists in the form of the online web. At any rate, it starts when Train Man (identity never exposed) saves a group of women from a pervert. Relieved to have been saved and have found a nice young man, the women take his contact information and one responds by sending him tea cups as a gift. By this point he has posted the story on a forum and is receiving response after response of what to do. Thanks to encouragement from members of the forum he calls her and asks her on a date. Thus, a friendship begins, but will it lead where Train Man wants it to?
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Originally posted Aug. 26, 2009
By REBECCA P.
My thoughts
In reading the first volume of A Perfect Day for Love Letters I was disappointed. It was not completely terrible, but it still wasn’t a manga to get your hopes up for (your $10.95 is better spent on one of Del Rey’s other series). That being said, let’s plunge into volume 2 and see what happens! One thing you will notice in this manga is there is less emphasis on love letters and some of the stories are just simple confessions of love through discreet ways (like taking swim lessons). The stories are all also longer and have better plots.
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Originally posted Aug. 5, 2009
By REBECCA P.
My thoughts
I really love short story collections which is what drew me to A Perfect Day for Love Letters. In it, we’re introduced to five short stories about different people (not necessarily high school students) finding letters of love that give them a hope of love or new love. Now, despite being a fan of short story collections, I found this one to be fairly disappointing, yet a good read.
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