Manga Review: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Volume 3, by Fujita

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: November 2018

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A tall, quiet gamer boy and a geeky girl whose life revolves around yaoi manga are old friends, but when they start working in the same office, they decide to date. It's a relationship of convenience at first, but could it become something more? This manga comedy is now a hit streaming anime!

Extra-long book includes 2 Japanese volumes!

Narumi and Hirotaka are, by all appearances, a power couple. They're young, good-looking professionals. But they have secrets from everyone but each other: They're serious geeks! Narumi is a fujoshi, and Hirotaka's a hardcore gamer. Their sweet, awkward love story started life as a webcomic before becoming a full-blown manga series by popular demand, and is about to become a major anime series!

Review:

It feels like it came on very suddenly, but I am now obsessed. I love Naoya, so much. He's my favorite.

This series seems like it should be more episodic, more of a 4-koma style, and yet it has more ongoing plot than that. It's also just so good, and keeps my attention all the way through.

There's lots of fun geekiness in this volume—including a convention and cosplay—as well as lots of gaming and arguments and other fun. There's also some couple stuff—they go to a hot spring in the second half.

But back to Naoya. After finding out that Ko is a female, he freaks out a bit, and then feels awful because of how it upset Ko. It's all super adorable. And then they end up on a double date with Narumi and Hirotaka, which is adorable, and also really good for them. They're all very geeky, and it's super cute. Even though Naoya doesn't quite understand just how much of an otaku any of these people are.

He's literally so cute it hurts me. I love him so much it doesn't make sense.

I need more of this so badly, I'm probably going to end up watching the anime while I wait.

Manga Review: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Volume 2, by Fujita

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: June 2018

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: Light.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

NOTHING VENTURED, NO XP GAINED Frustrated at the slow pace of their relationship, Hirotaka asks Narumi on a real date, with one critical stipulation: They can’t show their otaku sides at all! Can the two find something to bond over in the absence of games, manga, and anime? Meanwhile, Hanako and Taro revisit the origins of their own tempestuous relationship back when they were in high school, and even Naoya seems to be spending more time with a new friend!

Review:

This series is very quickly growing on me.

In the first half, the author plays around with mixing up the chapters, extending a main plot line. It makes for a fun read, though I think she does it better in the second volume with timing.

We get to see Hirotaka and Narumi go on a real date and try to leave out anything otaku related. It's hard, as that's a large part of their lives. Narumi also gets to act like a “real” girlfriend and take care of Hirotaka when he's overworked himself. In the second half, we get to see how Narumi and Hanako actually became friends by revealing their otaku obsessions. And we go way back, to see how Hanako and Taro met in high school and started going out. We got to see a vulnerable side of Hanako during this, which was really sweet—and honestly a surprise.

My main excitement in this volume, though, was seeing Naoya. He is literally the cutest, and I love him so much. I realized just how much in this volume, and I'm a bit obsessed. In this volume, he meets a girl, Ko, who is awkward and shy and afraid of interacting with people. Given how oblivious and outgoing Nao is, it makes for a really sweet pair. I will admit I was a little disappointed that Naoya doesn't meet a cute boy instead, but that's okay. I was kind of hoping there would be more diversity in the characters, but I was very quickly won over by Nao x Ko.

It might be mainly because of Nao at this point, but I'm a bit obsessed, and feel like I must read the next one as soon as possible.

Manga Review: Princess Jellyfish, Volume 3, by Akiko Higashimura

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: 2016

Volumes: 17 Volumes/9 Omnibus.

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

CHIC COUNTER-ATTACK

Inari, the aggressive vixen of redevelopment, ramps up her efforts to buy out Amamizu-kan, where Tsukimi and her friends live. But Kuranosuke has a fabulous plan of attack--turn Tsukimi's jellyfish designs into a reality! Will becoming real fashion designers be more than Amars can handle? Meanwhile, Shu's interest in Tsukimi drives Kuranosuke to confront some feelings he's never dealt with before...

Review:

It's been a while since I read the last volume, and I'm not quite sure why I waited, but now I definitely want to catch up.

Halfway through this volume is where the anime ended, so most of this was new content to me, and it was very exciting. I'm so glad we finally get to see more of the story, how things are really going to turn out.

Now that the possibility of Amamizukan being torn down is more plausible, we're getting more of the story. Originally, I wondered why it was such a huge deal—why couldn't the owner just buy a new rental/house with the money she's given? She'd probably still make a profit.

But, now I see that the owner is Chieko's mother, who has been letting them live there despite their being NEETs, and I see that she's sick of supporting them. And, that, I completely understand. They shouldn't really get to live there if they can't afford it; they should just get jobs. I'm not sympathetic to that, honestly.

And still, I don't see why they can't just find somewhere else to live. This might be a great deal, but they can find something else.

Despite all that, it looks like they're working hard to make these jellyfish dresses a real thing, and I respect that. The dresses are really pretty, and they're a very good idea. The work they put into it is also admirable, and I like seeing Kuranosuke help and push them and make them grow for this.

I really love the crazy characters in this series. Mayaya is still one of my favorites, and I love seeing her be bribed to model. Jiji kind of bothers me. We met a new doll-obsessed girl, who is very odd, and a little disturbing as well. Then there's Tsukimi and Kuranosuke, and Shu, all who I really like. I'm really enjoying the development between those three, in particular.

This series is crazy and so much fun. I'm excited to read more.

Manga Review: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Volume 1, by Fujita

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: April 2018

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The awkward, romantic comedy manga about geeks in love that inspired the new anime! Can a professional man who's secretly a hardcore gamer and a woman who's secretly a fujoshi date without their hobbies getting in the way, or revealing each other's secrets?

Extra-long book includes 2 Japanese volumes!

Narumi and Hirotaka are, by all appearances, a power couple. They're young, good-looking professionals. But they have secrets from everyone but each other: They're serious geeks! Narumi is a fujoshi, and Hirotaka's a hardcore gamer. Their sweet, awkward love story started life as a webcomic before becoming a full-blown manga series by popular demand, and is about to become a major anime series!work.

Review:

This isn't 4-koma, but it is short, comedic chapters. Narumi meets an old classmate at her new job, Hirotaka, who is a fellow otaku. This is something they related to while in school, but now Narumi avoids telling people these things, and has had issues in the dating world because of it. So upon seeing Hirotaka again, she gets excited to have someone with this in common.

They decide to start dating, and in the moment, it feels like a “why not?” situation. A convenient decision. But as the story progresses, we get to see that there are real feelings involved, and that they do work well together. We also meet Koyanagi and Kabakura, fellow otaku work friends, who are also dating.

This was a really fun volume. Having such big, comedy-based volumes always take me a while to get through, but this was fun. Otaku series are always on my radar, and since this is also josei—or, at least, with adult characters—that's even more of a plus. This is fun and geeky, and the artwork is also really pretty.

Novel Review: The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance; Geeky

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: 2016

Spoilers?: Yes.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. Archie and Veronica. Althena and Noth.…Graham and Roxy?

Graham met his best friend, Roxy, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.

But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.

When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be…even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.

The Cover:

I think this cover is super cute. It's definitely what attracted me to the book in the first place, but I always lean toward the geeky books. I think that the title is done really well, in that fun comic font, and that the boy on the cover just sells the image.

Review:

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I wanted something different from it. Which is my problem more than the books'. But, really, I just love a good childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, and that's what I wanted.

So, spoilers, there.

Graham has been in love with Roxy for forever. They've been friends for forever. And he's finally decided that he's going to romance her, and he's going to do it at comic-con. He has a few things planned out, but several of them keep falling through. And then, while it's all falling apart, so does his confession. Because it happens, only she's not really into him that way?

I will say that I loved all of the geeking, and the comic-con dressing and makings friends and the speed-dating. Graham meets a girl at comic-con, and the friendship forming there was nice. I also liked the two best friends that tagged along to the con. Roxy and Graham also have pretty cool families, though Roxy's is more strict.

I liked the book, and it was fun. All of the parts were good. I just wanted something else from the romance, is all, and I was hopeful at the beginning (because I did read the synopsis and the warning in it), but disappointed at the end. It was still good, though, and I will probably try another book of hers.

Novel Review: Romancing the Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance; Nerdy

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release Date: April 5, 2016

Spoilers?: No.

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

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Dan Garrett has become exactly what he hates—popular. Until recently, he was just another live-action role-playing (LARP) geek on the lowest run of the social ladder. Cue a massive growth spurt and an uncanny skill at taking three-point shots in basketball and voila…Mr. Popular. It’s definitely weird.
And the biggest drawback? Going from high school zero to basketball hero cost Dan the secret girl-of-his-dorky dreams.
A tuba-playing nerd with an eclectic fashion sense, Zelda Potts’s “Coolness” stat is about minus forty-two. Dan turning his back on her and the rest of nerd-dom was brutal enough, but when he humiliates her at school, Zelda decides it’s time for a little revenge—dork style. Nevermind that she used to have a crush on him. Nevermind that her plan could backfire big time.
It’s time to roll the dice…and hope like freakin’ hell she doesn’t lose her heart in the process.

The Cover:

It's a cute cover, and the font and image would probably catch my interest, but I don't love it.

Review:

I was really excited for this one, since I loved her first book. But it was just okay.

I did enjoy the ideas, and all of the geekery, and even the idea of the romance between the characters. The chemistry wasn’t fully there for me, but it was at least present. Both of the characters had very present parents, which I appreciated; they were good parents, too. Their friends were great as well, and I liked seeing Maddie and Logan again.

The start was rough, and I didn’t care for the way that Zelda set out trying to trick Dan. It was just petty and childish. I did appreciate the way that both Zelda and Dan learned about their closed-mindedness by the end, though. They both realized how they were acting and closing people out, and they smarted up. It was a little cheesy, and too blunt and sudden, their revelations and their reactions after, but I can look past that.

My biggest problem was the writing of the voices. Both characters had the same form of thought process, and they were both exaggerated and talking to the reader and it was cheesy and too over the top. I probably would have found it funny and enjoyable when I was younger, but now I’m passed that. It just bored me and got annoying by the end of the book.

I’m glad I picked it up, and I’m glad I’m done with it. It was just okay for me, but I would recommend it to high-school, and even middle-school, readers.

Manga Review: Princess Jellyfish, Volume 1, by Akiko Higashimura

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: March 22, 2016

Volumes: 15+

Spoilers?: Not really.

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

Volume: 2.

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

THE LONG-AWAITED STORY OF FANGIRLS TAKING ON TOKYO!
Special large-size 2-in-1 edition of over 400 pages!

"One of the best anime and manga for beginners. Enthusiasm - geeky and otherwise - is power in Princess Jellyfish. Enthusiasm saves the day and paves the road to the future." - Kotaku

"Princess Jellyfish's ambition is simple: to tell a delightful story in a delightful way... It's a pretty deadly one-two punch." - Anime News Network

"Loaded with heart, soul, humor and insight." - About.com

STINGING BEAUTY

Tsukimi Kurashita has a strange fascination with jellyfish. She’s loved them from a young age and has carried that love with her to her new life in the big city of Tokyo. There, she resides in Amamizukan, a safe-haven for girl geeks who regularly gush over a range of things from trains to Japanese dolls. However, a chance meeting at a pet shop has Tsukimi crossing paths with one of the things that the residents of Amamizukan have been desperately trying to avoid—a beautiful and fashionable woman! But there’s much more to this woman than her trendy clothes! This odd encounter is only the beginning of a new and unexpected path for Tsukimi and her friends.

Review:

I have been wanting to read this for a while now. I watched the anime and was immediately obsessed. I knew it was only a matter of time, and was super excited when Kodansha announced they would be releasing it in two-in-ones. Firstly, it’s a very pretty, big volume. I wouldn’t have minded single volumes, but these are nice as well, and about the same price it would be otherwise, if a couple dollars cheaper. There are also five color pages, and they are gorgeous.

I will say that the anime follows the manga very closely, at least so far. But I don’t mind a bit, and it made me want to re-watch it after reading. The artwork is a little rough at times, but mostly I didn’t mind it at all. It was very pretty in some places as well. The humor was the same as in the anime, exaggerated and adorable and funny.

Tsukimi lives in a house with a group of otaku girls, all of them terrified of other people and going outside and men and stylish women. They call themselves nuns, or amars. When Tsukimi runs into Kuranosuke, who is crossdressing as a stylish woman at the time, he kind of barges into her life. This then proceeds to freak out her roommates, when they don’t even know he’s a guy. But Kuranosuke helps them when they find out their house is trying to be bought and demolished, and he also introduces Tsukimi to his political, extremely shy around women, older brother. We also meet their driver, Hanamori, who is pretty much an otaku for cars, and I like him a lot.

I love how this series deals with insecurities and individuality. All of the characters are insecure about something—the women are pretty much insecure about everything—but they’re also completely themselves. They don’t shy from their obsessions, or their fear of other people. They look how they look and don’t want to change that, are even afraid to. They are how they are, and they don’t know how to be any different, and might not even care to change that, either. On the other side of it, Kuranosuke dresses like a woman all the time, tells people about it and uses it to bother his family. He doesn’t hide who he is or what he wants to do. He’s proud of it, even.

I am just in love with this series. I think it’s hilarious and adorable, quirky in the best possible way, impressive. It reminds me of Ouran High School Host Club, only with college-aged otaku women. If you’re even a little curious, I would recommend picking it up. I would recommend it to anyone, actually. I am eagerly awaiting the next one.

Manga Review: Kiss Him, Not Me!, Volume 2, by Junko

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: December 2015

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: Light.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hi there! It's Kae again.
When I go to school every day, it feels like I’m walking into a real life dating game. Four of the hottest guys in my school are with me everywhere I go!

The school festival is coming up and I’ve been put in charge of making the boys outfits for a cosplay café. Do you know what this means? That’s right, I get to see them all in costume! I have lived for this day, and this day alone. I’m brimming with excitement to go full-throttle fujoshi on those boys! But wait! Last night before the festival, Igarashi-kun was acting kind of weird, wasn’t he?

And now, it’s the day of the event and crazy things keep happening to me with these four beautiful boys! My heart won’t stop pounding! This is way too real for me. I want to go back to my fantasies!!

Review:

I’m surprised by how much I’m loving this series so far.

The school is having a festival this volume, with cafes and plays and haunted houses, including the boys cosplaying which makes Kae’s inner fangirl swoon. The boys are getting fed up with sharing her, though, and acting like they’re all best friends, so they make a schedule for each boy to take turns with her.

This starts out all right, but gets more and more overwhelming for Kae, having so many boys focusing solely on her for a period of time. And when the boys start fighting, she freaks out. Igarashi really impresses me here, honestly, the way he stop and tells her they’ll go slow. It’s incredibly romantic and sweet and I love him for it.

The last chapter is Christmas, but instead of celebrating that, Kae has plans for Comiket. The boys unknowingly decide to join her on that, wanting to spend time with her, without really knowing what comiket is or what they’ll be doing for it. It’s sweet seeing how devoted they are to spend time with her and make her happy, when they even have to split up and buy her yaoi books to save time. It’s hilarious and quite adorable. 

I can’t wait for the next volume.