Authors—Yoshizumi Wataru

With the finite of topics I can think of to write about, I decided this week to write about one of my favorite authors in the graphic novel world whom I like reading and rereading from, mangaka Yoshizumi Wataru. This will probably a first of a number of posts with a topic on authors in general though I’m not sure how to structure this though since I don’t know so much about these mangakas than I do know about the mangas they write…Also, the chosen author is extremely significant—I just think it'll be easier for me to write about Yoshizumi as my first author post since most of her mangas are also completely scanlated. 

So the mangaka Yoshizumi was among the first mangakas I read from before I started reading online—Marmalade Boy and Ultra Maniac (was available at my city’s huge library network). I think she became one of the first I also read from when I started reading online—Datte Suki Nan Damon. And thereafter, I began to seek out and read all available Yoshizumi mangas that were scanlated.  I have this feeling that a lot of people don’t really like Yoshizumi’s work. I think all of them vary in degrees of greatness but generally the storylines are enjoyable if you read with more of an open mind. She initially wrote shoujo genre but recently in the past few years, I’ve seen more scanlated mangas by her showing up under the josei genre.

Whenever I think of Yoshizumi’s work, I think it’s quite relaxing in how realistic she writes her stories. Her style of art is between simplistic and detailed but more on the simplistic side. It’s pretty clean which helps the mood of the stories she draws since most of her stories aren’t extremely complex but very slice of life style (if the stories she wrote were to be played out in real life). The stories vary in terms of drama but when I think about the characters and stories she creates, the drama isn’t superficial and somewhat understandable unlike other shoujo and josei mangas. To simply put it, for me, she isn’t a cliché writer.

I’ve read every single Yoshizumi manga available on the net so the following will be personal notes on each manga.

Shoujo

Datte Suki Nan Damon (completed)

I think this is one of my favorite light reread mangas. The story isn’t great but I think it’s well written considering the characters that Yoshizumi creates in this manga. The male lead, Masato-kun isn’t someone to exactly look up to since he is dubbed a playboy but removing that information, he’s a pretty decent male lead. The reason for why Masato is a playboy is more or less forgiving especially when one reaches the end of the manga. The female lead Moka is likeable since she’s not a frustrating shoujo lead and is quite honest. Her commitment to the feelings she has, how Yoshizumi lets Moka shine by not making her overbearing and insistent about her love really drew me in. I think of this story as quite relaxing.

Random Walk (completed)

I like to think of this manga as a good realistic and possible account of dating for people today/in high school. It’s not everyone’s experience but I feel like it gives a piece of reality that not everyone sticks to one person throughout their high school years and in early adulthood (especially since young people don’t really know much about love either). Motives are different of course, some people date for the sake of the dating experience and just having fun whiles others like the female lead in this manga Yuka, date for the sake of finding their love. Much like the title, this manga is a “random walk” for Yuka because she finds different guys and falls in love kind of easily but I like how she’s open minded about falling in love. I like her father's open-mindedness towards love as well. I think a lot of people don’t find this manga very tasteful but I enjoy it because today, not everyone is lucky to find “the one” as easily as most shoujo mangas portray.
Handsome Girlfriend (completed)

This isn’t my favorite manga by this mangaka. In fact I find it fluctuating in terms of how interesting it gets throughout the story. What I like about this manga is that there is the element of the entertainment world but I find most of the characters…”meh.” I’m quite fascinated by the male lead, Ichiya’s ambition as a director and “movie enthusiast” and the people he’s gathered around him. The female lead, Mio…well the concept behind a “handsome woman” isn’t about sexiness or elegance but about the strength of a woman that can potentially be associated with that of a man as “handsome”. Mio is supposed to be a “handsome woman” but I see her as more of a cry-er than “handsome” so she didn’t appeal to me. However I love the concept behind the movie that is produced in the manga known as “Private Ai.” I wish Yoshizumi would write a manga based on the concept behind that movie because it’s pretty interesting but I don’t think it’s likely with what she said in the free-talk sections.

Mint na Bokura (completed)

It’s a gender bender involving two identical twins—brother and sister. The brother sneaks into his sister’s school (a boarding school) as a girl to try and get his sister to come back to school. He ends up rooming in a double with another girl of course. Another of course is that the roommate he has happens to be someone he ends up being attracted to/falling in love with. It’s pretty funny but it’s been awhile since I last reread it (maybe I’ll take this opportunity to reread it).

Ultra Maniac (completed)

I kind of call this an oddball manga written by Yoshizumi since it’s the most out of the ordinary compared to the other mangas she has written. This is a manga involving the supernatural—witches but not in the usual sense with wands but with spelled objects. I can’t exactly explain it since it’s been awhile since I last read this manga. The female lead is pretty childish but it’s forgivable because of she wasn't raised in the human world—though I don’t favor characters who refer to themselves in third person and I think she’s one of them. The man that she eventually falls for is sensible so I liked him. All in all, it’s an ok manga with touches of child-like innocence and refreshing youth.

PxP (completed)

I like this manga because both leads (male and female) are impressive. The female lead is outgoing, down to earth, and pretty smart and really athletic. The male lead is intelligent and cool with inventive skills. The two of them work as a duo in a Robin Hood way but instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor, together they steal meaningful items back from people and return them to the original owners. I think it helps that this manga is also short so there isn't so much time to develop any frustration with the characters as well. It’s a light read.

Marmalade Boy (completed)

Not my favorite by Yoshizumi but it’s one of her earlier mangas and I think it’s her most successful right? I enjoy the unique scenario that she thought up as well as Yuu’s charismatic playful personality. Miki is a little annoying but she’s very much “normal teenage girl” material as a character so I give props for the reactions of Miki towards her baffling circumstances. It’s fun to reread like once a year or couple of years because of the freshness of older style shoujo (older than today that is). I enjoy the purity of older shoujos and even though Miki isn’t such an appealing character, I still like her since I feel like she’s like the connection of the “normal.” (Sounds like BS but I kind of feel like because she’s the most normal, it makes sense that she’s the/a main character).

Kimi Shika Iranai (completed)

I think this is another not as well liked manga by Yoshizumi. SPOILERS The female lead is a high school girl who was once married but is now a divorcee, but (and excuse me if this is a little plain-spoken) she didn't even lose her virginity yet. Now, the protagonist is actually a male who falls in love at first sight with the girl. As for the reason why I think it’s not a well liked manga, it’s ultimately because of the girl—she kind of became all anti-love after finding out that her ex husband had cheated on her. The worst part  about this ex husband is that he doesn't even see what he did wrong because physical cheating isn't the same as emotional cheating which I can kind of see his point since there are things like open marriages but still. The girl friend zones the guy pretty quickly but the guy perseveres. The thing I liked about this manga is the male lead’s perseverance and undying (exaggerating) devotion to his love. Also, the little sister of the girl is pretty cool despite being a grade schooler. She has a good head on her shoulders and takes the role of the rational and supporting secondary character for the male lead, encouraging him to continue persevering for her sister. But for the female lead, I must put in a word that readers are way too hard on her because I understand rationally why she feels the way she does and acts the way she does. It wasn't exactly a clean divorce so with lingering feelings, she couldn't help but still feel attracted to the manslut. 

Chitose, Etc.

JOSEI
Cappuccino
Spicy Pink
Cherish
Happiness

*Incomplete post, to be continued*