Manga Review: Dreamin' Sun, Volume 4, by Ichigo Takano

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Seven Seas

Release Date: November 2017.

Volumes: 10.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3. 5.

Goodreads Synopsis:

CRUSHED!

Zen’s finally confessed his feelings to Shimana! Unfortunately, while she wants to help him pursue his dreams, she doesn’t feel the same way about him. Shimana’s got her own unreturned feelings to deal with, because she’s crushing on the landlord, who treats her just like a child. Determined to get closer, Shimana gets a hold of his high school yearbook–and makes some surprising discoveries.

Review:

I was pretty much ready to be done with this series. And then it had to go and keep being interesting, ugh.

We discover some secrets regarding Taiga in this volume. He's been keeping a lot from the kids, and is very stubborn about not telling them anything. Only to discover that Ken thinks he should be honest, and Asahi already knows everything.

A main theme in this series seems to be ambitions and dreams, and going after them. We see that at the beginning of the volume with Ken, and again at the end as they push to discover Taiga's.

My favorite character in this series is still Zen. He's adorable, and so sweet, and he's there for Shimana even as she likes someone else. Shimana is really the main part of this series that bothers me. She's so focused on herself, and so dramatic. The way she blows up over little things and blurts things out and runs away drives me crazy. She makes me roll my eyes so many times, and she's the main reason that I'm hesitant to keep reading more. But then it has to get deep with Taiga, and interesting with the side characters. There was some surprising depth in this volume, and I liked it. There was also a side story of Taiga, Ken, and Rei when they were in high school, and it was adorable.

I really like Zen and Ken. If this series focused more on them, I would be hooked. As it is, I do and I don't want to keep going.

Manga Review: Dreamin' Sun, Volume 3, by Ichigo Takano

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Seven Seas

Release Date: September 2017

Volumes: 10.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From New York Times manga bestselling author Takano Ichigo.

Shimana Kameko lives in a home where she feels she doesn t belong. Her mother is dead, her father has remarried, and her six-month-old baby brother takes up everyone s attention. Kameko skips school and runs away to a nearby park where she literally stumbles over a mysterious man in a kimono.

The stranger, Fujiwara Taiga, offers Kameko a place to stay on three conditions. The first condition is that Kameko tell him why she ran away from home. The second is that she fetch the stranger s lost apartment key (he is locked out!). The third condition is ... to have a dream. Kameko meets the conditions, moves in, and begins a journey of romance and self-discovery.

Review:

I really want to like this series, and it has its good moments. But man, the way it uses these cliché plot lines... it's just not good.

We get to see Zen run after Shimana here, and I really like Zen. He's honestly my favorite part of this series, and I'm almost reading just to see more of him. He's adorable and quirky and awkward, and I'm all for it.

Anyway, he goes after Shimana. And Shimana is just being dumb in the first place, and should be able to get herself home, not to mention get over herself.

After that, we get some confessions, we meet Zen's older brother and get to see how Zen wants to help him and push him back into what he wants to do. It's a sweet plot line, and I'm interested to see how that all pans out.

On the other hand, we also have Shimana falling for their landlord, and I. Just. Ugh. I just hate that, honestly. He's not much older than them, and that usually doesn't even bother me. But here it's just so cliché, and so obvious that Shimana is only falling for whoever is there and paying attention to her. I just don't like her, I think, and I don't like how these basic storylines are being used. This plot in particular has me very close to giving in.

I'm going to give it at least one more volume, and we'll see. But I don't know if Zen is going to be enough to keep me here.

Manga Review: Dreamin' Sun, Volume 2, by Ichigo Takano

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Seven Seas

Release Date: July 2017

Volumes: 10.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Home Is Where the Heart Is

When Shimana fails to work up the courage to ask Asashi out on a date, she decides it's time to get a makeover as part of her self-improvement plan. But when she calls Asashi to come check out her new look, she's too preoccupied with his own crush to pick up the phone. Is her transformation all for nothing? And what are those weird heart palpitations Zen's getting every time he looks at Shimana? It's a full house of unrequited love and self-discovery in volume 2 of this slice-of-life romance!

Review:

In this volume, there's a makeover, a couple love confessions, and in the end, Shimana throws a fit and runs away.

This series is very... cheesy? It could be that I just don't like Shimana very much. She's a bit dramatic, and in this volume she makes a big deal over getting a makeover to impress Asahi. At times, her actions get on my nerves a bit. She also gets jealous when her possible friends from school start fawning over her roommates. She's just not really my kind of character.

But on the other hand, Zen is great. He's embarrassed easily, and awkward, and quite adorable. There's also the maturity of some decisions made in this series. The plot isn't very slow, which is nice, but it's not rushed or anything. I like that there are two important love confessions in this volume, plus another character admitting his feelings.

This series is iffy for me at the moment. I really like some points, and others bother me a little. The plot seems a little childish and cheesy sometimes, but then at other times it's smart and mature. It's up and down for me, but I'm going to give it a few more tries, I think, because I want to like it more.

Manga Review: Dreamin' Sun, Volume 1, by Ichigo Takano

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Seven Seas

Release Date: May 2017

Volumes: 10.

Spoilers?: Light.

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

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

While loitering in the park, Shimana Kameko, who intended to run away from home and skipped school, meets a suspicious man in a kimono. This man, who had been locked out of his house, offers Shimana a place to stay. However, he requests she fulfill three conditions in exchange for her tenancy?!

Review:

I really enjoyed Orange, so I was eager to pick this one up. I'm a little unsure now, though.

This felt very much like an older shojo series, with a teenage girl who ends up living with a group of boys. I haven't read a series like that in a while, but Shimana is not the best protagonist.

Shimana runs away from home, because her father has a new kid with his new wife and she doesn't feel like she fits in anymore. It honestly feels like she's throwing a fit. In her angst, she stumbles upon an older guy, who's hungover and locked out of his house. She gets roped into getting the key from one of her classmates, along with a few other conditions in order to live there with them for cheap.

Mostly, Shimana is whiny. She's an angsty, whiny teenager. Meh. She ends up living with Asahi, who's a smart, cute guy from her school, and Zen, who is more of a loud dork. I'm actually a fan of both of them so far; I'm leaning toward Zen, but Asahi is a good guy, too.

We also meet Miku, an older woman who's slightly crazy, but I think will be a good influence on Shimana. There's some hints of a deeper meaning behind their landlord's job and his connection to Shimana, but I'm not too worried.

This was an interesting first volume, and it got better by the end. The art style looked like an earlier kind from Orange. I'll probably keep reading.