This book covers the lives of Rei and Kira. Two students who seem worlds apart, but share pasts they can't fully escape from. Rei is popular and a little mysterious, while Kira is shy and so withdrawn she's not a mystery as no one cares to learn anything about her. When their paths sway towards each other, somehow these two form a bond that seems shakey but cannot be broken by anything. They start as strangers, move to friends, progress to each other's guardian, and eventually fall into a love that no one can break.

Teens, romance fans, college students, and manga lovers looking for something with a little more of a mature feel to it. There is drama and angst without going emo, and the characters have inner strength and grow through the series.

I just liked the characters in general. I liked how they were not driven together and thrown into fast passion, but they weren't too self-concious and tenny-bopperish (word?) either. Rei and Kira find they like each other for reasons they can't explain right away, and instead of falling into lust, they realize how much they care about each other. Rei could get anyone he wanted, but he finds himself desiring attention from Kira, and really only cares what she thinks of him. While Kira is afraid of him at first, then amazed to see she was wrong about him, and then so enthralled by the fact that there is someone in the world who can actually see her.

Sometimes it was a little much to see how other people tried to force Kira and Rei apart and hearing how cute he is all the time started to get old. But manga is Japanese and these things seem to be a trend in the culture of their literature. I believe these instances were there to show how often people want what they see, even if they don't really know anythign about it. Those cute shoes? They'll hurt your feet. That rose? It has thorns. That cute little kitten? Rabies.

I was in a good place and hungering for the next issue. So you might want to get the first three if you buy this manga.

It was so sweet without being cutesy and slow. The pace moved well and the dialog had its witty moments that were enjoyable. I felt refreshed and happy some times, worried and sad the next, desperate, lonely, loved, and angry.

Did a fantastic job! The drawings are simple pen-style drawings, but they work well. The character development was good, and the plot twists moved the story along nicely.

I hate romance novels. And by that I mean the 'I hate you, I hate you... sleep with me, we were made for each other!' types. I recommend this book because it was the first romance I read that kept my attention all the way through, had a nice story, and made me actualy care about the characters. Rei and Kira seem almost black and white (no pun intended) until he story delves deeper into their lives and instead of the cry-about-it pasts, they have scars they are trying to heal.

If you are uneasy around blood, I warn that there is a lot of blood and fighting and talk of rape and suicide. And yet I stand by this book as not being emo.

This book was recommended to me by an Atomic Comix employee when I went in there to buy a comic book for my sister. I had read some manga because I love art and had been learning Japanese, so hearing that the Japanese wrote novel-sized comics was amazing to me. The employee was in her mid twenties and raved about the book, and offered me half-off if I promised to buy the sequal from her if I bought it at all. So I took the deal and loved it because when I came back she was ready and willing to talk about it and I made a new friend.

So even if manga is not your thing, you might want to check this out. No robots, magic, or talking animals. Just a cute story. I give this book a 4 because the drawings were not that amazing and the manga was short, so I would not recomend it for a long trip.

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Created Nov 14, 2009 at 11:40am • Submit your own review...