Gapz Garden

This was a bizarre manga. Two things really stick out about this manga and earn it a solid 3/10: the storyline (that ending, UGH!), and the themes/characters. From the very beginning, the pacing of the story was just...off. Scene changes are very unclear, and chapters end very abruptly. More than that, the storyline was just...so random and difficult to follow. I just spent a lot of time wondering WHY anything was happening. The manga indulged in some cliches and completely skipped over obvious ones. Characters appeared and disappeared at will. There were SO many loose ends that were never addressed. Like, what the heck happenedto Julie's sister? And on that note, what the heck happened to Julie? There was literally NO ENDING. I just felt like I was being dragged kicking and screaming in a pointlessly odd confusing direction through the plot. And, ah. The characters. Ryan represents just about everything I hate in shoujo manga. He's cruel, possessive, disrespectful, and treats the main girl character totally like an object. He gets nicer, but his abusive behavior doesn't get addressed. He slaps her, whines about how she doesn't understand him...he cuts off her hair and sticks it on a teddybear. Now, I don't know about you, but I would be FREAKED OUT by that. Nope; she's just touched. And I'd like to clarify that he's more than just physically abusive when he's still "coming to terms with his feelings". Even when he's "nice", he continues to treat her like an object. And, boy. Those "plot twists" in the last two or three chapters...real gems there. I mean, characters that were barely introduced COMPLETELY changed their tune. Ryan's life is pretty much in the toilet, and I'm wondering if he's going to turn into a serial killer. Julie is potentially in danger. I have NO IDEA what Ryan is thinking, and Lance is sort of on the way to the rescue...and then BAM. Nostalgic recollection to the bizarre hook of the series. That's IT. Oh, and it's not terribly important, but the third brother? He's twelve years old, and a sixteen year old girl is after him. That's just...gross. And he's SO IMMATURE and CRUEL about it. "I hate you! Don't ever come near me again!" And tears are STREAMING down her face instantly...just...wow. Gross. Creepy. I don't care about a four year age difference, I really don't. It just depends on how old you are. It's gross for a four year old to like a baby. It's gross for a sixteen year old to like a twelve year old. Twenty eight year old and a twenty four year old? Who the heck cares, right? But there's a BIG developmental difference between sixteen and twelve. Okay. Off of my soap box, but, yeah. In conclusion, this manga was just weird. Beyond weird. I have no idea what I just read, or why. The mangaka didn't seem to have a handle on the plot or direction of the story, and the parts she did have a handle on (Julie, Ryan, and the little brother whatever his name is) I am disgusted by. The manga endorses abusive relationships. I mean, what the heck! If there were no good guys for Julie, if she had no options, sure! Put her with Ryan. Maybe there's no such thing as compatibility. But Ryan's younger brother Lance is pretty much perfect, and he's RIGHT THERE. He treats her with incredible kindness, respect, and consideration. Is that really so unromantic to just go with the nice guy instead of the guy who calls you ugly and tried to kill you a few times? I mean, come ON! A solid 3. Poorly executed, hot mess.