Say "I love you"

Mei and Yamato

Konbanwa~

Nadeshiko-chan here reviewing a cute romance anime called “Say ‘I love you’”. It’s based on a manga by Kanae Hazuki, which is 11 volumes ongoing in Japan; the anime covers volume 1 through volume 7 chapter 28 and is considered complete with a total of 13 episodes. Let’s begin:

Mei Tachibana has had been betrayed by her friends again and again, the most traumatic being when they blamed her for the death of the class pet. Because of that she’s developed a hatred of and distrust in people besides her mother, wanting to be left alon. Then one day, because of a misunderstanding, she round-house kicks Yamato Kurosawa, the most popular boy in school. After this, he takes an interest in her and decides he wants to be her friend. He wants Mei to learn how to trust people and realize that not everyone will betray her, that there are people who will actually unconditionally care about and love her. The story follows Mei trying to grow as a person and her relationship with Yamato.

It’s an adorable love story and it’s easy to relate the Mei, especially for people who have been badly betrayed or people who’ve wanted to grow as a person themselves. She’s strong-willed, though a very indecisive at times but it’s excusable because it’s caused by insecurity and inexperience, not because she’s a weak person. I also love what great lengths Yamato goes to in order to understand and protect he’s crush. Sometimes they misunderstand each other, but at the end of the day you can tell they’re simply an idiot couple.

From what’ve read and what’ve seen, the manga is more 18+ while the anime is 16+. The manga also

Aiko; Mei; Yamato; Asami; Kenji (a total pervert)

introduces characters and develops relationships better, it felt a bit rushed in the anime and there were two or so instances where I had no idea who someone was and was never introduced to them. But I still think it’s a cute anime more than worth watching. That’s all for today. Bye-Bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

MARS by Soryo Fuymi

Rei and Kira

Konnichiwa~

Today I’ll be reviewing one of my absolute favorite mangas! One of the best melodramas and romances I've read! It’s pretty well known, but for those who haven’t read or haven’t heard of it, I recommend to just stop reading this right now and start reading Mars by Soryo Fuyimi! Its 15 volumes and completely scanlated. Anyway, this amazing manga follows the story of Kira Aso and Rei Kashino, two teens who seem to be from different worlds; the artistic, shy, and quiet Kira is ostracized from the rest of her class while Rei is the center of attention as the school’s popular and lovable bad boy. But they are strangely drawn to each other, even though they don’t accept the fact right away. As the story continues, it is revealed they’re both dealing with major psychological traumas. Kira with her father dying in a car accident and her fear of men, rooted from the years she spent with a sexually abusive stepfather. Then there’s Rei with his complex childhood and the blame he puts on himself for his twin brother’s mysterious suicide. On top of that, there’s his love of racing motorcycles, which constantly worries Kira and his father. Both characters are complex, realistic, and live in the gray zone of society, but they look at each others wounds and accept each other, doing what every they can to comfort and heal the other. The love between them is bewitchingly passionate, both them nearly falling apart once when they had a particular dramatic fight and broke up for, well a day I think. There’s the old story are the red-string of fate and how everyone is tied to their fated lover by this red string, and I think these two are definitely a fated pair, the need and desire each other, no one else can even compare to their loved one.

Rei loves his motorcycles and Kira is teh first person
he's ever let ride on it with him

It’s been made into a Taiwanese drama, but I haven’t seen it yet. Every time I try, I end up stopping and reading the manga. Anyway, the plot is captivating the art makes it even better; I just love classic1990s manga art, it’s simply charming. Fuyumi-sensei really knows how to express emotions like pain, fear, love, and happiness. You can truly understand what Kira and Rei are feeling and the pain they’ve experienced through her art. I highly recommend this 1990s classic, its story and characters both unique and in no way a cutesy little shoujo manga, not by long shot with its dark pasts, violence, suicides, and psychopaths.

~Nadeshiko-chan