Cherry x Cherry

STORY 6.5/10:: Meet Tomoki Kamishiro, the young man serving as our male protagonist and narrator of the manga. He leads a simple life until he has a pair of little sisters thrust into his life. So basically, the premise is very simple, cliche even. A negative? Well depends if that bothers you that much- it didn't for me. The proceeding chapters post introduction allow us to witness how crazy living with his new sisters can be. We are given typical ecchi moments and fan service events with a slice of comedy/life every now and then. And you know what? There was a rather well directed plotline that the story was following, and belonging to the genres it does- that calls for some appreciation. ART 6/10:: Okay, so I have a few gripes with this manga in this department. Personally, I'm not a fan of the big eyes on the little sisters. While loli fans can eat their hearts out, I prefer normal looking little sisters whose eyes and irises don't take up half of their face. Other details and designs were good enough where it didn't bother me to the point of detracting the work. I can't recall many works off the top of my head published in the 2008 era but Cherry x Cherry was probably acceptable. The scenes and panels that involved movement and action were fluid, smooth and flowed pretty well. Fan service and eye candy is aplenty for those that care. CHARACTERS 6.25/10:: The cast is pretty much composed of three parties. Our male lead Tomoki- typical teenager with a rather irresponsible father and a somewhat short fuse- understandable given his situation. His balancing of emotions throughout the story was his main development and his personality transition from start to end is noteworthy. Toujou isn't what I consider the normal female protagonist. Even though she is introduced early, is involved in a majority of the chapters and can be considered a romantic interest/lead by readers, she alternates and shifts between the role of a main and that of a supportive character. Finally the pair of little sisters, Sera and Riru. They supply most of the comedy and the plot usually involves around their antics so it makes a bit more sense to consider them the female leads. While they are sisters, you can see the personalities differ slightly when it comes to their dialogues and actions. ENJOYMENT/OVERALL 6.5/10::: To be honest despite the obvious flaws that I pointed out (and even some more I might have missed), I did enjoy reading this manga. Like I mentioned in the STORY section of my review, there was an underlying plot direction being followed and coupled with a satisfactory ending really added to the overall enjoyment for me as a reader. A recommended read for those who want a light-hearted manga to read and don't mind some comedy aspects to pair it with. The ecchi and some fan service is questionable but then again, isn't it always?