Bakuman follows the story of high school student Moritaka Mashiro, a talented artist who does not know what he wants to do with his future. One day, Mashiro draws a picture of Miho Azuki, a girl he is secretly fond of, during class but forgets the notebook at school. He comes back to find that his classmate Akito Takagi is waiting for him with his notebook. Takagi tries to convince Mashiro to become a mangaka, a manga artist, with him, leading to Mashiro's disagreement. Mashiro goes home and thinks about his mangaka uncle, who had only one successful series before he died in obscurity. Mashiro is interrupted by a phone call from Takagi, who says that he is going to tell Azuki that Mashiro likes her. Mashiro runs down to Azuki's house to find Takagi waiting for him. Once Azuki comes out to meet them, Takagi tells her that he and Mashiro are aiming to be mangaka. Mashiro then learns that she wants to be a seiyuu, a voice actor, and has shown promise in the field. Mashiro, once again thinking about his uncle, accidentally proposes to Azuki who accepts. However, she will only marry him after they achieve their dreams. In addition, they cannot see each other until then.
After reading the manga and watching the anime, I've scoured the internet out of curiosity on what other people thought about Bakuman. For some reason, most of the negative reviews that I've read are pretty biased and misinformed, so here are a couple of things that need to be cleared up for your expectations:
This is a slice-of-life shounen anime, so expect a slow paced story that's light hearted.
Don't expect a dark story, read a seinen if you're looking for the most realistic realism.
Don't read or watch Bakuman if you don't like the slice-of-life genre.
There are 3 seasons in the anime cover most of the manga, so don't judge the entire story by watching only 1 season.
Most people who end up reading or watching Bakuman are aware of the fact that the people behind the global phenomenon of Death Note are also behind Bakuman. Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba are the writer and artist duo who are the masterminds responsible for Death Note, so people expect great things from Bakuman.
You know you've seen or read this.
Now be aware that Bakuman is a stark contrast compared to Death Note. While Death Note is dark, dreary and suspenseful, Bakuman is a light-hearted, sweet story about the life of 2 young mangakas.
Yeah wut.
Normally I wouldn't want to watch a slice-of-life anime because I tend to watch animes that have some kind of out-of-the-ordinary element like aliens, demons, samurais, ninjas, etc., but I've already read the manga and it was a great read. Bakuman also opened up my perspectives on the life of mangakas as well; thus I was able to understand why some mangas drag (*cough cough* Naruto and Bleach), why some good mangas get cancelled (Anedoki and D-Grayman), and why shounen mangas are styled the way that they are. Bakuman obviously parallels some of the personal experiences of Obata and Ohba with Death Note references and how the Ashirogi Mutou mangaka duo consists of an artist and writer.
Ordinarily I wouldn't mention too many characters because some characters spoil the plot, but Bakuman is a slice-of-life; thus it should have an exception because the entire plot completely focuses on character development and character relationships. The entire cast of characters is the best thing about Bakuman because you won't see this many well-developed and well-likable characters in a shounen anime. There are also different groups of characters in the story, so I'll break them down as Ashirogi Mutou, Other Mangakas, the Editors, and the Girlfriends. The only characters that I'm going to mention have a significant impact on the show and are the driving force of the show, except I'm not going to mention characters that spoil the story just by describing them. I also mixed around the first and last names around based on what name they're called the most.
Ashirogi Mutou [Main Characters Duo]
Moritaka Mashiro
Mashiro Moritakais the artist of the Ashirogi Mutou duo of who, the story primarily focuses on. He's your typical shounen protagonist: brash, hard-working, determined to make his dream come true, and in fact will piss you off from time-to-time because of his stubbornness to see the bigger picture like Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan and Shinj Ikari from Neon Evangelion Genesis, except that his character isn't dark at all (don't expect murderous or suicidal thoughts from him because he's a pretty happy-go-lucky character). Even as the years pass by, Mashiro behaves like a middle schooler when it comes to love. His unrealistic and innocent romance with Azuki Miho will annoy most people, but to me, it's a charm that Bakuman has because every young guy fantasizes about their own perfect romances. Even I wish that I could have a love relationship that was innocent as Mashiro's. Mashiro is also the less interesting part of the duo and cast of characters, despite the majority of the story focused on him. I like to think of it as Fullmetal Alchemist whereEdward Elric is an okay main character, but he is outshined by the supporting characters who are better characters than him with less screen time.
Takagi Akito
Takagi Akitois the writer of the Ashirogi Mutou duo and plays the part as a secondary main character. Unlike Mashiro, Takagi is a braniac when it comes to school work and writing stories. He is the jelly of the peanut butter and jelly; Mashiro is the base of the story, while Takagi compensates for his shortcomings. The livelier character, Takagi is the one who took the initiative of becoming a mangaka team with Mashiro by reinvigorating Mashiro's passion for manga and starting out Mashiro's couple relationship with Azuki. It feels like Takagi should be the primary main character of the story because he has more character than Mashiro and he's the go to person when someone wants to talk to Ashirogi Mutou. He also has more developed relationships with the other characters compared to Mashiro.
The Girlfriends
Azuki Miho
Azuki Mihois Mashiro's lover who shares the same dream as him. They're really similar to each other when it comes to innocence and shyness, except Azuki is a little more straight-forward in what she wants. She doesn't have as much screen time as Kaya, but her character is as important to the story as Mashiro is. Her character isn't as developed as the other characters due to the lack of her screen time, but she is likable in the sense that her will is unwavering (compared to Mashiro and girls in general), she has a very humble personality, and she's very hard working.
Kaya Miyoshi
Kaya Miyoshi is Takagi's lover who is a ditzy, athletic, tomboyish girl who has no real aspirations, but holy shit. This character is hilarious. Most of the time when Kaya is around, I couldn't help but laugh because she is the definition of comedic relief with her violent behavior and funny facial expressions. Even though Takagi and Kaya are the couple, it always seems like she's the 3rd wheel in Takagi and Mashiro's bromance. Heavily underrated and unappreciated, Kaya is one of the most important character in Bakuman as she is Takagi's motivation and is the glue that keeps together Ashirogi Mutou and Mashiro and Azuki's relationship. She even came up with the name Ashirogi Mutou. She's a very lovable character who also has a nice character development and becomes more mature as the series goes on.
Other Mangakas
Niizuma Eiji
Eiji Niizumais a highly eccentric manga prodigy who is Ashirogi Mutou's number 1 rival. This guy is always entertaining to watch, and his voice actor does a great job capturing his eccentric nature really well. It always feels like the anime staff had a blast animating Niizuma with his exaggerated sounds and expressions.
Kazuya Hiramaru
Hiramaru Kazuyais the least motivated character in the story, but not in a bad way. He's like everyone we know: he doesn't want to work, but rather enjoy his life. Another character who is eccentric like Niizuma, you can also expect great over-the-top voice acting from his voice actor. Hiramaru along with Niizuma are two of the most hilarious characters from Bakuman, and my two of my favorite characters to be honest.
Fukuda Shinta
Fukuda Shinta is an outspoken, brash character who is the leader of the mangaka characters. I feel like Fukuda is more suited to be a main character rather than just a supporting character because he has the traits of leadership, bravery, compassion, and so on. At first he might seem to be just a typical douche, but later on you realize that he's just blunt with his words. Good character, I just wish that he had more screen time.
Yuriko Aoki
Aoki Yuriko is one of the stubborn female mangakas. She goes through significant character development and is a very likable character. Her and Kaya go through the most character development in the story. I'd like to say more because I really like this character, but anything more to say about her will spoil the story.
The Editors
Hattori Akira
Hattori Akirais the skilled editor who is Ashirogi Mutou's guidance and mentor throughout the story. Despite his silly design, he's a very competent person and resembles Ryuk from Death Note. He also seems like your every day sort of guy. Don't get me wrong, he's a good character and very respectable and all, but if he didn't receive the amount of screen time that he has and play a really important role in the series, he'd be significantly overshadowed by the more dynamic and extreme characters of Bakuman because he is like your every day sort of person. This is most likely due to him being based on a real editor at Shonen Jump.
Hisashi Sasaki
Sasaki Hisashiis the serious editor-in-chief at Shonen Jump (or Jack in the anime). The writer of Bakuman did a really great job in creating a very serious and relatable character with Sasaki. The anime does this very well too. You really get the vibe that you don't want to screw around with him or disappoint him. He's a very well done, relatable character that actually gives the vibe of an actual boss. This is mostly likely because Sasaki is based on a real person, the editor-in-chief of Shonen Jump, just like how Hattori was based on a real editor.
Yoshida Koji
Yoshida Kojiis the reason why Hiramaru is so damn entertaining. This guy isn't even very significant to the plot, but he deserves a special mention. He's a first class psychopath who is very charismatic and always has schematics that keep Hiramaru in line for his own personal gain which have really hilarious effects. All the editors shown in the anime try their best for the sake of their mangakas, but he's the exception; he only does thing for personal gain. Another special note to mention is that his voice actor is Takehito Koyasu. Takehito Koyasu really really knows how to play charismatic psychopaths really well like Dio Brando from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Takasugi Shinsuke from Gintama (note on the emphasis of really). Because of Takehito Koyasu, Yoshida is the best voice acted character, even among Niizuma and Hiramaru.
The animation is very well done. The colors are great. The comedic animations are gold. While I was watching this, I could tell that the anime was well-budgeted because I never really noticed any obvious animation errors. There is a scene where Takagi asks Kaya to beat him up (but I couldn't find any videos or pictures of it unfortunately) and the fighting animation resembled a high budget action anime scene from Hajime no Ippo or Naruto. There was only one scene like that as far as I can remember though. This is a slice-of-life anime, so don't expect flashy action scenes. But because this is a slice-of-life anime, most of the scenes are drawn realistically. The best parts of the animation was when they exaggerated character expressions and broke away from reality, which created some highly entertaining scenes, mostly with Kaya (I keep going on with Kaya, but she's the best character in the series).
Kaya occasionally physically beating Takagi.
Hiramaru celebrating from not having to work.
The animation staff also did a great job in recapturing certain moments in the manga just to add more to the comedy.
Classic manga styled animation.
And like I said, the colors are great because they're vibrant and pleasant to look at. The animation staff usually made scenes more vibrant with pivotal or exciting moments in the story.
The usual animation for scenes like this.
There is subtle fan service throughout the anime (which is surprising because the over-arching plot is an innocent romance), usually with Kaya's breasts
This is the only scene with obvious fan service in the anime.
or Aoki's breasts (which I don't remember being so big in the manga, and they make them noticeably larger as the anime goes on strangely). This should be a plus to those who enjoy fan service, but also to those who hate fan service because it's usually so subtle and extremely rare.
Another really awesome part of this anime was that unlike the manga, the anime really fleshed out the manga works of the mangakas and sometimes with animated openings. For example: when I first watched the anime, this was the very first scene and I was really confused because thought I was watching the wrong anime.
It really does looks like a legit anime opening lol.
My only real complaint with the animation was that in the first season, I felt that the animation staff hadn't really solidified the character designs. For example: Azuki had an awkward design in the first season of the anime.
First Season
Third Season
But this problem was fixed as the anime went on and the staff had more experience drawing the characters. It could also be due to the design improvements from the mangaka as the manga went on.
The music was good. There isn't much that I could say about it because it's your typical slice-of-life anime music, so don't expect anything crazy good like orchestral music over intense fight scenes. This anime is nowhere near sad or depressing, so there isn't any sad music either.
The plot is simple and straightforward: Bakuman is the story of two mangakas living the life of mangakas and their eventual goal is for Mashiro and Azuki to marry once they accomplish their dreams. This is also a slice-of-life comedy story, so the plot is entirely character development and character relationships. Since there is mostly comedy in the story, there is never anything sad. There are some dark underlying realistic tones with certain characters, but I haven't mentioned them because they would spoil the plot, and even then they still don't drastically effect the tone of the story; they only add tension momentarily. I also felt that the anime was slightly rushed and I wanted a little more from the original story (there are certain characters and an entire arc completely cut out). What I really did like was that they added a little more to the ending than what the manga had.
A great cast of characters, great character development, great character relationships, great animation, and a great experience overall. If you like the slice-of-life genre, you'll especially like this and I highly recommend that you watch this. The story was very enjoyable and you get to learn more about the manga and anime industry. Aside from certain parts of the manga cut out from the anime and awkward character designs of the first season, I still enjoyed this anime as it was faithful to the majority of the manga.
The second JJBA series takes place in the 1930s, and follows the misadventures of Joseph Joestar, the grandson of Jonathan Joestar, as he fights vampires and ancient super beings with some help from a cybernetically-enhanced Nazi and an Italian man he has a lot in common with.
Preface
Alright so I admit, the first part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, made me fidget throughout most of the anime except towards the last segment of it. I mean, it's pretty understandable for Hirohiko Araki's earliest works, but Battle Tendency is guaranteed to keep you glued to your seat (or bed). David Production did an excellent job in adapting the first 2 parts of the series, even with a low budget, but what made the first part less enjoyable than the second was solely because of the source material (the manga) they had to work with. Battle Tendency is crazy, and in a good way, and it also started the flamboyant pose trend.
You never see poses like these anymore.
What more reason do you need to watch Battle Tendency? The opening itself is what sums up the show; Battle Tendency is flamboyant, crazy, and very entertaining.
Because of the low budget David Production had for Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, I am not going to criticize anything caused by the tight budget as it's amazing what they did for a series that hadn't seen an anime adaptation in 2 decades. What do I mean flaws caused by the tight budget? Well in the video that I've shown, the animation quality isn't the best; the animation is a little rigid if you know what I mean. It's all very minor problems that require you to have a trained eye in order to spot these technical flaws, but even thenyou'll forget about them because this show is crazy entertaining.
Characters
Joseph Joestar
Joseph Joestar is a brash, rowdy trickster who hates egotistical people, but ironically is egotistical himself. He might seem stupid, but it's all a part of his plan in deceiving his opponents. Joseph is a tactical genius, which is one of the main reasons why this show is so entertaining. The complete polar opposite of his gentleman grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, this guy is wild, rude, and will always insult his opponents. This guy is my personal favorite JoJo because he's such a crazy character; everything he does is nothing you'd expect to happen. Just watching this guy is outrageously hilarious, especially his secret move.
Even Speedwagon is here.
Speedwagon is an uncle-like figure to Joseph and is respected by him, which is rare because Joseph rarely respects anyone. The man of many memes, this guy is what started the Speedwagon trend (a character is screaming out on the side about the crazy thing that's happening at the moment) and the Speedwagon Foundation. Highly lovable character because even Speedwagon agrees.
Shizaaaaa!
Caesar Zepelli is the pompous playboy who is charismatic and charming. This guy is die-hard prideful in his Italian heritage and Zepelli lineage. He is way more reserved than his fighting partner, Joseph. Saying anything more about him is a spoiler and I don't want to spoil anything about Caesar because he's a great and memorable character.
Note: You guys might wonder why I haven't wrote much about the other characters, well it's because I don't want to spoil anything and Joseph Joestar is basically the star of the show.
Animation
Despite the low budget, David Production is able to make use of what they have. The animation is colorful throughout and resembles the art style of the manga very well.
All these colors lol.
I also really like how they change the color scheme during scenes to highlight specific moments. It's a style that David Production frequently uses in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series and I think that it's an excellent idea as it looks great.
Yup.
What got me into the entire JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series was basically this video that sums up the colorful animation style of David Production:
The moment that I saw this video, I quickly decided to watch the series.
The most beautifully animated scene is towards the end, and trust me, David Production did not skimp out on that scene at all, but I won't spoil anything because it's a Goddamn beautiful scene.
Music
Like I said about David Production and their low budget, they really know how to optimize their low budget. Most of the music that you'll hear is an intense electronic music (a lot of dubstep as well), which pretty much characterizes how energetic the show is. Here's an example a track that I'm talking about, minus the vocals.
Only during the most important or emotional scenes will they use a very beautiful operatic song or a triumphant orchestral fanfare. You know how sometimes when you're reading a tragic scene in a manga and your eyes are dryer than California, but when you watch it animated with music, a rain never stops from your eyes. The most beautiful and tragic scene of the show utilizes the most beautiful song in the soundtrack, but you should hear it for yourself when that scene happens.
Voice Acting
Now normally I wouldn't write about the voice acting in a review because people have preferences in what language they want to hear their anime in, regardless of quality. But because there was no English dub at the time of this review and a phenomenal performance from the cast, I just had to mention something about the voice acting. The voice acting is gold. You will not hear anything of this caliber in most animes out there, except for Gintama and Dragon Ball Z (Japanese dub). There is so much energy within the voices that you feel pumped up for certain scenes. Usually poor English pronunciation is cringe-worthy and sounds unprofessional, but the voice actors create magic with broken English because the energy in the voice acting is invigorating. You'll notice this in the Stardust Crusaders' anime especially. Tomokazu Sugita's voice performance perfectly captures the personality of Joseph Joestar and makes the character even more enjoyable.
Plot
The plot is a crazy thrill ride. A continuation from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part I: Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency features Jonathan Joestar's grandson, Joseph Joestar. The first fight scene that you'll witness is Joseph beating up corrupt cops in New York in order to defend a thief that just robbed him. The moment when you see Joseph demonstrate his Hamon is when you realize that this show is going to be damn good. Joseph Joestar is the show as he brings so much energy to the table because of his unorthodox battle tactics that are highly entertaining and unpredictable. This show consists of mostly action. The action scenes are great because of the unpredictable twists that come along with Joseph's calculating fighting style. So don't expect a mind-boggling plot with layers of complexities; the plot straightforwardly progresses as the mysteries of the Stone Mask are uncovered. Expect the unexpected when it comes to plot twists though. There isn't really much to criticize about the plot except for the lack of character development with 2 supporting characters, Messina and Loggins, due to a timeskip (but blame that on the source material, the manga). Any unanswered questions is resolved at the conclusion of the story. The last scene basically foreshadows Stardust Crusaders, and you're going to want to watch Stardust Crusaders after watching Battle Tendency.
Conclusion
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part II: Battle Tendency is a crazy, bizarre, flamboyant, and exciting anime that will keep you on your toes with unpredictable plot twists and fight scenes. Despite the low budget that David Production had with this anime, the technical flaws are greatly overshadowed by how great this anime is. The animation, music, and voice acting adds to the exciting and energetic tone to the anime. The ending is satisfying and you'll want to move on to the next part in the series. Overall, this anime is fantastic and I highly recommend it. If you like battle anime, what are you waiting for? You're missing out if you're not watching Battle Tendency.
Rating
9/10
Ichigo 100% (Strawberry 100%)
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Harem, Shounen
Synopsis
One day, Manaka Junpei walks to the roof of his school and encounters a beautiful girl falling down from above him and accidentally exposing her strawberry panties. The embarrassed girl runs away before Junpei can find out whom she is. He wishes to become a filmmaker, and this whole experienced seemed like it would make the perfect scene in a movie. And so he goes on a search for the girl with the strawberry panties in order to reenact it all on film. But he will soon discover that finding that one girl will not be that easy... (Source: ANN)
Preface
There's something special about a manga when you're constantly internally screaming because you're insanely frustrated at the main character.
Very rarely do I ever read romance mangas because I prefer stories with great depth or great comedy. Ichigo 100% is a romance harem manga that surprisingly contains both, despite the negative reputation that harem mangas carry. Most shounen harem mangas are criticized for always being generic, shallow, and having fan service over content. The 2 most prominent shounen harem mangas of all time are Love Hina and Ichigo 100%, but I stopped reading Love Hina halfway through because I got bored of it (people will probably bash me for this). Unlike Love Hina, Ichigo 100%had me fully immersed in it. As a matter of fact, it's my favorite romance manga of all time because I've read the entire manga 4 times already. Sadly, this is Mizuki Kawashita's only successful manga, and it's a shame because she really knows how to create a male's perspective on romance, despite being female, and deliver great laughs throughout a manga. Another thing to mention is, even though I've used the anime's picture, don't watch the anime because it cuts out some important story details in order to fit the anime. It feels like an unfinished anime because it abruptly stops in the middle of a manga arc, and less than a third of the manga is shown in the anime. And again, do not watch the anime and judge Ichigo 100% because it is an extremely poor representation of this manga.
Characters
Manaka Junpei and his strawberry obsession
Manaka Junpei dreams of becoming a great filmmaker and has a fetish for strawberry panties after experiencing a brief encounter with a beautiful girl that fell down underwear first in front of him. For an average guy who's always day dreaming and barely passing his classes, he seems to be the luckiest guy ever when he somehow ends up in many enviable situations. Every guy hates him for having the attention of the most beautiful girls in the school. Chances are that you're going to hate his guts for his indecisiveness in picking a girl. I mean, how many guys actually have a choice in picking which girl they want to be in a romantic relationship with? This guy is also like a complete saint for not taking advantage of all the enviable situations that he's somehow always in due to his conscience.
Note: Even though Ichigo 100% is known for its 4 heroines, I'm only going to mention the ones that the main character is romantically involved with.
Toujo Aya without her glasses
Toujo Aya is a shy, awkward, and clumsy girl who is usually at the top of her class. Aya sincerely wants to help Manaka make his dreams come true (that aren't ecchi ones) with her novelist caliber writing abilities.When she has her glasses on and does her hair in a geeky way, she's ignored, but when she takes her glasses off and lets her hair down, she becomes the hot girl of men's dreams. A nerdy awkward girl who isn't noticed with her glasses on and suddenly becomes beautiful when she takes them off? Sounds like a common manga heroine archetype right? That may be true, but mangas rarely develop those kinds of characters (and I'm not talking about her "well-developed" D-cups). She surprisingly becomes one of the most developed characters in the story, especially for a heroine in a romance manga.
Nishino Tsukasa
Nishino Tsukasais another heroine who is pretty much the foil to Aya's character. She has a bold personality along with a desire to follow her own dreams. She's very independent and always takes the initiative in what she wants. *cough cough* Pay attention ladies. She also has significantly smaller breasts than Aya. Tsukasa is a very likable character and is surprisingly very mature for her age.
Kitaoji Satsuki is a very brash tomboyish girl who loves to flaunt her well-developed and athletic body. She's very straightfoward and doesn't really think about her actions and words before she does anything. A bro's kind of girl to hang out with, Satsuki is easy to talk to and is knowledgeable with television shows and other trivial things.
Review
You might think that you can predict who Manaka is going to be with at the end, but trust me, you will have the most difficult time predicting who it is. You will be pissed off at Manaka for his inability to decide who he likes the most. One moment you think that he'll be with Aya, in the next chapter you think that he'll be with Tsukasa, then in the next chapter you'll think that he'll be with Satsuki. This manga will keep you guessing throughout the entire manga. If you like unpredictability in a plot, here it is. Ichigo 100% is one of the most unpredictable romance manga that I've ever read, and that is why this manga stands out to me over most romance mangas.
Chapter 1
The art work is very well done and it really adds to the emotions that are conveyed in many of the emotional scenes. Out of all the mangas I've read, Mizuki Kawashitareally knows how to illustrate sad emotions on a person's face without the need of tears.
There is plenty of fan service that are really well-drawn throughout this manga. Some people hate on fan service in general, but the fan service really adds to the comedy and sometimes emotions of certain scenes like I said earlier. For some hilarious reason, Manaka always ends up in a situation like this:
Manaka in the Sea of Breasts
The comedy is gold in this manga and it never fails to make me laugh; I first read this back in my early years high school, fast forward to my mid college years and this manga is still hilarious. Every straight male reading this will always curse Manaka for possessing the devil's luck.
Character development is the absolute shining star of this manga and pretty much the story. Because the entire story focuses on character development and the relationships of Manaka and the heroines, this manga literally has the best character development in all of the romance mangas that I've read. Because this manga is chronologically going through Manaka's school years, you will notice how Manaka and the heroines develop significantly as they grow older and more mature.
Ichigo 100% isn't without its problems though; the manga added an unnecessary character.
Kozue Mukai the unnecessary character
In the last third of the story Kozue Mukai practically dragged the plot a little bit, ultimately adding no value to the plot. The other problem is that the male characters other than Manaka have no character development because the story is female-centric and Manaka. To sum it up, all male characters other than Manaka are pretty much just extras.
I mean look at how plain these characters are compared to the females.
These problems are very minor despite how it sounds like because the character development, humor, and art completely overshadows them. The story is very enjoyable; me reading the entire 167 chapters of Ichigo 100% 4 times is pretty much proof.
Conclusion
This is a very well done romantic comedy harem manga is the prime example of how a romance this genre should be. The excellent character development is the focal point of this manga and the plot is extremely unpredictable. The characters are very likable.The artwork is great and really conveys the mood of scenes. Despite the constant fan service, it actually adds to the humor and story and that is very impressive coming from a harem manga because harem mangas never do this. I guarantee you that there will be laughs coming from reading this manga.
Rating
9/10
Ane Doki
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Harem, Shounen
Synopsis
A mysterious, busty, strong, beautiful, and mature high school girl... What more can a guy ask for? Apparently, Kouta, 13 years old, doesn’t want that. After giving a high school girl some ice cream, she returns the favor by promising to take care of Kouta while his father has gone on a business trip. However, Kouta dislikes the idea because the girl, Natsuki, treats him like a little child. Despite the one-way tension, Natsuki tells Kouta to become an adult that doesn’t run away from what he wants to do if he wants to become an adult. With her words in mind, Kouta finds the courage to rescue the idol of his school, Kanade, from three punks who try to harass her. Natsuki appears in time to beat up the three punks after a few punches have been thrown at Kouta. Kouta sees that she isn’t a bad person, and decides to accept her into his home. A new release brought to you by the author of Ichigo 100%, Hatsukoi Limited, Lilim Kiss, and Sonezaki Shinju; the funny and slightly ecchi love comedy between a high school girl and a middle school boy! (Source: MangaHelpers)
Preface
Man, I remember back in high school when this manga first came out. I was pretty excited because the mangaka was Mizuki Kawashita, the mangaka of Ichigo 100%. I really, really enjoyed Ichigo 100% (I often kept believing that it was my turn to be Manaka Junpei and find a girl out of my league) and I expected a high quality romance comedy from Ane Doki. I got so many laughs from reading this, so when the manga came to an abrupt end, I was kind of sad because I wanted more from the story. Later, I find out that Ane Doki was axed because it wasn't doing so well in the Weekly Shonen Jump. It's a shame because this manga had potential to be another Ichigo 100% if the mangaka wasn't under so much pressure.
Characters
Kouta Ochiai
Kouta Ochiai is just some average middle school boy with an average life. Like all young boys going through puberty, Kouta fantasizes about girls and nosebleeds at the sight of a sexy girl. His single dad is never around because he's usually working and partying, so Kouta doesn't see him too often, except when he comes home at 7 am, drunk from a strip club.
Natsuki Hagiwara
Natsuki Hagiwara is not your average high school girl with a not so average life. Her parents promote independence, so they're never around, but it doesn't really affect her optimistic and carefree view on life because of her maturity. She's basically like your older sister's really hot friend who is 4 years older than you and looks out for you because she really cares about your well-being in an older sisterly way. Oh yeah, she can fight too.
Review
So imagine being a middle school boy going through puberty and you encounter a really hot girl with a really nice body and a really pretty face who is obviously older than you. I know that I'd be thinking about her all day.
Ice cream scene
You go on the rest of your day as normal, until you come back home from school and suddenly your dad is running out of the house saying that he's being transferred to a place that's a 16-18 hour drive and he tells you to take care of yourself. Yeah, things couldn't get any worse, until the really hot girl surprises you and forces her way into living with you. In a way, it's like a guy's fantasy, but a nightmare at the same time because you have all these nosebleeds to the point that you need more tissue.
Lol.
I mean wouldn't you also feel stressed out from going from a pretty normal life to a really crazy one? So yeah, this pretty much describes the most of the plot. It's crazy in a way that you wouldn't be able to expect any of this happening to you in real life because this is a really unique scenario. Despite being a female, Mizuki Kawashita really knows how to create a hilarious romance from a boy's perspective. Kouta overreacting over every single thing is really amusing.
Natsuki is a weird but charming girl
The highlight of this entire manga is Natsuki. Natsuki is literally the story. All the fan service is based on Natsuki, probably because all the other girls are in middle school. Her character is so charming and unique that she is the main focus of the reader and the reason why you're going to be laughing your butt off. She's fun, mysterious, down-to-earth, and she makes you wish that you had a friend like her.
The problem that I do have with this manga was that the plot gets rushed towards the last part of the manga (due to the manga having low rankings). After I finished reading Ane Doki, I felt that more story arcs could've been added after the 2nd to the last arc and make the manga even better. The characters were pretty underdeveloped (because the manga didn't have enough time) with the exception of Kouta, but even then, his character development had plenty of room to grow. You don't even get to know the names of Kouta's guy friends who are always hanging out with him throughout the manga. Nothing about Kouta's mother is ever mentioned (like if she's dead or divorced). But all of these problems won't affect your enjoyment of this manga at all.
Conclusion
The interesting and unique scenario of having a hot older girl live with you will keep you interested, but the charm that Natsuki brings along with the comedy is what will keep you reading. Ane Doki genuinely had a lot of potential and when I mean a lot, I mean a lot. When a manga makes you crave more from the story, it was because it had an irresistible charm. The rushed ending caused by lack of popularity is what prevented this manga from growing. What the manga lacks is made up for by the hilarious plot and likable main characters. This manga has a charm to it and I highly recommend it for the laughs and fan service because Mizuki Kawashita's artwork is great.
