Hana to Hoshi

It´s really hard to judge this manga. In numbers I´d say somewhere between 7 and 8, but let me first give you a short overview, before we go more into detail and afterwards I´ll give my rating. This manga could be interesting for you, if you like: - Yuri/Shoujo Ai/Slice of Life (obviously) - a romance that initiates slowly - a third wheel (in terms of a love triangle) - to read Mangas in one session (11.5 Chapters) - while enjoying chapters with 20-35 pages - romance (there´s no sex scenes in this one) - being happy to read a manga that´s already finishedThis manga might be NOT interesting for you, if you: - are demanding in terms of drawings - generally like longer mangas more - like explicit Yuri, because there are no sex scenes at all - have no interest in a protagonist, who´s having an inferiority complex, whilst also beeing an emotional cripple Alright, let´s get into detail: I start with the drawings. Actually I like the style of the author. I like the proportions, the faces, the hair, but when the author trys to bring feelings on a face , he´s doing it in such a weird and exaggerating way, that the faces sometimes remind me of the fishes in Spongebob Squarepants... That´s a harsh critique, probably too much, but thats exactly what I felt while reading. Another critique is the slovenliness of the drawings. As I said I like the style, but from a technical point of view it looks like everything was drawn fast and amateurish. The result is not a sight for the eyes. Now I will talk a bit about the story, before I share some thoughts on the characters. Basically it´s a story about 3 characters and their relationships. The 2 main characters are the sweet girls Hoshino and Hanai, who ran into each other on the first highschool day and who also happen to sit next to each other in the class room. Every now and then there will also be flashbacks into the past of our characters. I have to admit, the first chapters didn´t fascinate me much. The story plays in the beginning from Hanai´s perspective, and she was not likeable to me. However I was pleasantly surprised, that I got hooked by the story. At some point my #Romantic-Mode# turned on and I wanted to know how things will turn out. I would say as the story evolved, it got better. Especially towards the end. On top of that, the story got so good, that I was able to blend out the bad drawings. In the end the humor and jokes where placed right, and you really start to think the characters are gosh darn cute. Here are some thoughts about the characters, without spoilers of course: Hanai: She was very unlikeable to me from the very beginning. She´s got an inferiority complex, low self confidence, she´s an emotion cripple, and she makes other people responsible for her failures. With her behaviour she makes Hoshino feel bad too. As the story evolves there is a character progression happening, but since the manga is so short dont expect too much. Hoshino: I liked her from the start. I also liked her "drawing" quite alot. She seems to be cool and filled with self confidence. In the inside however, she doesn´t have alot of self confidence and she´s shy. Also when she´s trying to express her feelings. One time, when she tried to express her feelings, she did it in an cute and shy way, that it really make my heart warm and I even had to grin alot :-) In terms of character progression, it´s more the way that she evolved alot from the time when she was a child, to her self as a student. Closing words: If someone asked me about Yuri, than this would not be the first manga that comes to my mind for a recommendation. But if we consider the fact that Yuri/Shoujo Ai is a niche, then a fan of the genre will not make a mistake, if he decides to give this one a try. Especially because this series is so short (I would have been glad, if it was longer though) If you go for it, then i´d recommend not to drop the manga after the first two two chapters. Be sure to read the full manga. It could be worth it. I´m rating it carefully with 7/10. More towards an 8. But I see no reason to rate it with an 8 with that artwork, because there are alot of other mangas, who deserve an 8 more.