Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 8, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2017

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A charming high school romance between a tender hooligan and an orphaned girl with enchanting artwork by Amu Meguro.

Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise that she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him—with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Their close friends, Kayo Yashiro and Ayumu Misaki, have been flirting and fighting together for a while, but does Kayo want Ayumu to be her boyfriend? Find out what the future holds for everyone!

Review:

First, we get to see a new side of Yashiro, as she deals with her feelings for Misaki. It feels a little out of character, parts of it, but I do still enjoy how she handles it, in a rather tsundere way. Next, we get to see Sou's old flame. I do admire his initial decision, but I think that Nao's old enough now for him to let himself grow. I also like Nao's stand on it, and how she decides to prove herself.

And through all of this, we get a lot of sweetness between Nao and Taiga. They're adorable, and their ending is sugary sweet and very fitting for them. They take their time in their romance, and it's sweet to see.

At the end, we get to see her first rough draft of the story, a little one-shot with very similar characters. It was cute, but not the same.

This was a very nice ending to the series. I really quite loved this series, and I hope more of her stuff gets licensed. I'd even like more from the side characters.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 7, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2017

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 6. 8.

RightStuf Synopsis:

  

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Taiga becomes a mentor to new student Miyabi Nishigaki. She develops a crush on Taiga and pursues him, which leads Nao to confide her feelings of jealousy to Futami.

Review:

Nao is trying to come to terms with her feelings of jealousy regarding Miyabi. For the first part, Taiga is oblivious, and then he realizes and feels so bad. I love how, through all of it, Nao and Taiga talk and figure it out between themselves. They need a little bit of outside intervening to finally accept their feelings, but then they come together. The openness and the maturity in their honesty is both refreshing and really appreciated. I love their relationship.

Miyabi is an intriguing character. She doesn't understand social conventions, and she really doesn't understand how romance works. It's a little unsettling at one point, how she tries to get closer to Taiga. But by the end, I like seeing how she's grown and accepted her feelings and what happened.

The next volume is the final one, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up. I've really loved reading this one.

Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 6, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 4, 2017

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 5. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A charming high school romance between a tender hooligan and an orphaned girl with enchanting artwork by Amu Meguro.

Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him—with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Nao and Taiga’s romance is as strong as ever, and even Misaki and Yashiro are getting along. Nao plans a surprise birthday party for Onise, but on the day of the event she unknowingly gets mixed up with another injured delinquent.

Review:

We meet a pair of twins in this volume. One, Ryo, is a fan of Taiga, and is trying to be around him as much as possible, and he's not a particular fan of Nao. His twin, Miyabi, on the other hand is extremely quiet. She has a hard time talking, and it takes her a long time to respond, leading to people thinking she's rude. I like seeing Taiga bond with her over her hardship with other people, and like seeing her growing more confident. I get her.

We get to see the scene from when Taiga first met Nao, what he was going through in their past. It's a nice glimpse. Then there's that cliffhanger, which is both funny and bad. Bad for Nao, but it's obvious that Miyabi doesn't quite understand yet.

This series is so very adorable. I can't wait for the next one.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 5, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 3, 2017

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A charming high school romance between a tender hooligan and an orphaned girl with enchanting artwork by Amu Meguro.

Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise that she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him—with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Nao and Taiga plan a romantic date on Christmas, but Yashiro, Misaki and Futami push their way in to make it a party at Taiga’s house instead. Though their friends leave early to allow Nao and Taiga some time alone, someone else interrupts them—Taiga’s mom!

Review:

Nao and Taiga decide to spend Christmas together, but their friends interrupt it. And then Taiga's mother shows up, and things spin in a rapid new direction for Nao. When Nao doesn't come home that night and doesn't tell Sou, he starts acting weird. And thus Nao decides to rebel and run away.

I love this plot line, and how easily Nao does it. Sou is pretty much ignoring her, and it drives Nao crazy, because he is her family and that's not allowed. Taiga agrees, and so he butts in to make them see reason.

It's pretty much all-around adorable. Especially when, after all that, it's valentine's day and Nao makes Taiga chocolate, which he doesn't expect, and then she tries to kiss him and messes up in the cutest way. Misaki also gets chocolate from the only person he wants, and it's so cute.

This series is just utterly and completely adorable wrapped up and I love every piece of it.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 4, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2016

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A charming high school romance between a tender hooligan and an orphaned girl with enchanting artwork by Amu Meguro.

Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise that she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him—with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Taiga is dating Nao, and his friend Futami knows this but still pursues Nao anyway. After Futami confesses his feelings to Nao, can Taiga and Futami truly remain friends?

Review:

This series is just so utterly adorable, god!

In the first half, we conclude the drama with Futami. This really just proves how great a guy Onise is, because even though there's a guy after his girl, he's okay with it. The trust between him and Nao is so complete, it's heartwarming and ridiculous. There's no doubt to the reader or to them, that she's going to choose Onise. But there's also the fact that Onise still completely wants to be friends with Futami. Their bromance is real.

The second half is taken up with Yashiro's messed up love life. We meet her boyfriend, who isn't a bad guy, but isn't loyal to her either. Misaki gets very upset about this, and wants to fight on her behalf, even when she doesn't want him to. I'm rather impressed with how we see that Yashiro is being cheated on, and that's bad, but also that she loves her boyfriend and he loves her, and it's not bad like it could be. But how she decides that she does deserve more. It was an impressive plot line all around.

This series is so sweet it should literally give you cavities. It's so over the top goodness and I just love every bit of it.

Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 3, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2016

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise that she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him-with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Nao and Taiga have been dating for two months, but Taiga’s best friend Ayaha Futami decides he wants to steal Nao away, and he’s not making a secret of it!

Review:

I love the way this series is written. The artwork and the wording, and the whole atmosphere of it, is so sweet and quirky and I just love it. The artwork is so pretty, too! It makes me want more.

The drama with Futami goes in the predictable, love-triangle way. I will admit that I thought it would be going in a more original direction, but I’m not surprised. And the way it’s done is quite believable, and feels fresh to me. We actually get to see the feelings from Futami form, and how honestly he goes about them. Things get weird between the three of them, but Futami is actually trying something, and they all know it.

And even with all that, Onise and Nao still get a ton of cute moments between them. They’re just super adorable, and we see them growing closer and trying to be more confident in their relationship, even if they’re not being as open as they should.

I am extremely fond of this series at this point, and really can’t wait for more.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Honey So Sweet, Volume 2, by Amu Meguro

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 5, 2016

Volumes: 8.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise that she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him—with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?

Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Nao and Taiga stopped dating when Nao became confused by her feelings for the two different men in her life. Now that they’re just friends, Nao begins to realize who she truly has romantic feelings for.

Review:

This series is just adorable. I was a little unsure in the first volume, but now it’s grown on me, and I just plain enjoy the art style and humor and writing. I like the quirky, simplistic nature of it.

I wasn’t expecting the romance to move so quickly in this series, but I love it. Nao doesn’t spend long at all in denial about her feelings for Taiga, which helps when Taiga doesn’t deny his feelings at all. Nao also comes to realize her true feelings for her uncle, and is even honest with him about them. I am just all around impressed with this, though I do admit it was maybe a tad fast. I don’t really mind, though.

I think that Taiga is adorable. He’s extremely honest about his feelings and thoughts and excitement over things, even when he gets embarrassed, and I appreciate that. He’s so in touch with his feelings, and I love how serious they are with each other.

Then, of course, Taiga makes a new friend at school who starts trying to separate them, and I sense drama is afoot. There’s also Yashiro and Misaki in the background, and I like Yashiro’s friendship with Nao. I also think that her and Misaki's odd friendship works so well while being cute and funny.

I’m just plain enjoying this series at this point. I think it’s adorable, and look forward to the next one.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!