I've been reading some Shoujo manga recently...
Your standard "cute-girl" shoujo, not the violent and bloody type like X, which is the type of shoujo that I normally read.
It all started because I heard about a manga that I wanted to rant about so I read it (because it's not fair to rant about something I haven't read even though I do that with Twilight) but it actually turned out to be not that bad. That story lead to me reading others that seemed interesting.
My Thoughts:
Koukou Debut - This is the series that I originally wanted to rant about. It's about a girl who wants to change herself to find a boyfriend and gets a coach to help her (who she eventually falls for). The reason I wanted to rant about it was because I hate the idea that a girl should change herself for a guy. Being herself should be enough and I really was prepared to hate this story because the plot summary sounded so bad.
What I found out when reading it though is that the story is less about the girl changing herself but more that she learns she has to be herself. She only 'gets the guy' (and have other guys fall for her) when she starts being herself instead of trying to be someone she isn't. Young girls should read it, it probably would leave a good impression on them.
* * *
Special A - In an odd way, Special A reminds me a lot of Ouran Host Club since you have a group of close individuals in an elite private school, except Special A is a lot better. It's about a girl who's life goal is to defeat her childhood friend (who always beats her, thus she's always second) who secretly loves her. They have various competitions throughout the story (even after falling in love) to determine which one is better.
The two of them are in the same class at school along with five other top students. It's called the Special A class, which means they can basically do whatever they want at school. There's also other characters outside of the S.A. that's also a source of amusement.
Really, the only issue I had with the series is that it's one of those YAY! EVERYONE HAS TO BE PAIRED UP IN A NICE HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP! mangas which always leave me a bit disappointed, even in cases like this where I like all the pairings. It's one thing to pair everyone up if the cast is small, but I find that this cast is a bit large for that excuse. So I'm torn, I hate it when stories do that, but I like all the pairings so I'm note sure if I should be happy that couples I like ended up together, or be upset.
* * *
Gakuen Alice - This would be my favourite out of the ones I read. Basically it's what you'd get if you took Mutants and put them in a Hogwarts-like setting, a Hogwarts run by Dolores Umbridge. Everyone at the school has a special power called 'Alice' which ranges from things like being able to control fire to stealing another person's Alice.
Despite it being entertaining I do have some issues with the plot though. One, there's really no explanation to why the students can't contact/visit their families. Yeah, they can't just leave campus whenever they feel like it for their own safety, but they still should be able to visit their families during the holidays or at the very least their parents should be allowed to visit the school. But not even parents who are former students are allowed access to their kids. It doesn't make sense (especially since the Top Student each year is able to visit their family for a week) and those rules are pretty fucked up.
My other issue is that the antagonist, the Elementary School Principle, is way out numbered by people who opposite him but they're still too scared to do anything about him. Seriously, the High School Principle, the Middle School Principle, at least three teachers, the student council, countless of former students and others want to see him gone, while you can count on one hand the number of people on his side. Just walk into his office and fry his ass! Seriously, they remind me of James Bond villains; they can't just shoot Bond and be done with it, no they have to create this elaborate way to kill him which he escapes from within two minutes!
Even with my issues, it is a good story. It's not uncommon in shoujo stories to have the cast put on a fairy tale play at some point to be used as comedy. Sometimes I find that it works (CCS) and sometimes I get bored with it (Fruits Basket), not only does it work here, it's the funniest version I've seen. It was so crazy and cracked filled I really was LOL while reading it (although I might have been slightly bonkers due to the lack of sleep).
It all started because I heard about a manga that I wanted to rant about so I read it (because it's not fair to rant about something I haven't read even though I do that with Twilight) but it actually turned out to be not that bad. That story lead to me reading others that seemed interesting.
My Thoughts:
Koukou Debut - This is the series that I originally wanted to rant about. It's about a girl who wants to change herself to find a boyfriend and gets a coach to help her (who she eventually falls for). The reason I wanted to rant about it was because I hate the idea that a girl should change herself for a guy. Being herself should be enough and I really was prepared to hate this story because the plot summary sounded so bad.
What I found out when reading it though is that the story is less about the girl changing herself but more that she learns she has to be herself. She only 'gets the guy' (and have other guys fall for her) when she starts being herself instead of trying to be someone she isn't. Young girls should read it, it probably would leave a good impression on them.
* * *
Special A - In an odd way, Special A reminds me a lot of Ouran Host Club since you have a group of close individuals in an elite private school, except Special A is a lot better. It's about a girl who's life goal is to defeat her childhood friend (who always beats her, thus she's always second) who secretly loves her. They have various competitions throughout the story (even after falling in love) to determine which one is better.
The two of them are in the same class at school along with five other top students. It's called the Special A class, which means they can basically do whatever they want at school. There's also other characters outside of the S.A. that's also a source of amusement.
Really, the only issue I had with the series is that it's one of those YAY! EVERYONE HAS TO BE PAIRED UP IN A NICE HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP! mangas which always leave me a bit disappointed, even in cases like this where I like all the pairings. It's one thing to pair everyone up if the cast is small, but I find that this cast is a bit large for that excuse. So I'm torn, I hate it when stories do that, but I like all the pairings so I'm note sure if I should be happy that couples I like ended up together, or be upset.
* * *
Gakuen Alice - This would be my favourite out of the ones I read. Basically it's what you'd get if you took Mutants and put them in a Hogwarts-like setting, a Hogwarts run by Dolores Umbridge. Everyone at the school has a special power called 'Alice' which ranges from things like being able to control fire to stealing another person's Alice.
Despite it being entertaining I do have some issues with the plot though. One, there's really no explanation to why the students can't contact/visit their families. Yeah, they can't just leave campus whenever they feel like it for their own safety, but they still should be able to visit their families during the holidays or at the very least their parents should be allowed to visit the school. But not even parents who are former students are allowed access to their kids. It doesn't make sense (especially since the Top Student each year is able to visit their family for a week) and those rules are pretty fucked up.
My other issue is that the antagonist, the Elementary School Principle, is way out numbered by people who opposite him but they're still too scared to do anything about him. Seriously, the High School Principle, the Middle School Principle, at least three teachers, the student council, countless of former students and others want to see him gone, while you can count on one hand the number of people on his side. Just walk into his office and fry his ass! Seriously, they remind me of James Bond villains; they can't just shoot Bond and be done with it, no they have to create this elaborate way to kill him which he escapes from within two minutes!
Even with my issues, it is a good story. It's not uncommon in shoujo stories to have the cast put on a fairy tale play at some point to be used as comedy. Sometimes I find that it works (CCS) and sometimes I get bored with it (Fruits Basket), not only does it work here, it's the funniest version I've seen. It was so crazy and cracked filled I really was LOL while reading it (although I might have been slightly bonkers due to the lack of sleep).