Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu

From reading the summary, many of you will probably think that this is another cliche shoujo where the good girl falls for the bad boy, and, in some ways, it is. However, I also felt that Kyou, Koi wi Hajimemasu stands out from other shoujo manga in that it executes some of these cliches smoothly, especially if they are in the "right places." Story (8): The story starts of with Tsubaki, an "unfashionable country bumpkin girl from the Showa era" that loves to do hair. She fails to make it to the school of her dreams so she has to settle with a school that is waybelow her standards. There, she meets Kyouta, the long-haired main male who she loathes from the very first day of school - I won't go into more detail to avoid spoiling it. It starts off very cliche, yes, and some events that happen may be unbelievable but I do not think that those specific scenes overshadow the entire story of two opposite teenagers that happen to find love with each other. I almost dropped this manga because it annoyed me a lot at the beginning and a few parts in the middle, but I'm glad I read it all the way through. Art (9): Normally I don't like big-eyed, cutesy, shoujo heroines, but I feel like this mangaka made her proportions just right. Some scenes were drawn sparkly and beautifully, and I loved that the male character wasn't straight faced ALL the time like in other shoujo manga. Character (7): I want to say that both leads pissed me off to no end. For a shoujo heroine, Tsubaki, in my opinion, was actually not as stupid as I thought she would be. Sure, she got herself into compromising situations, but I feel that most of those were out of her hand. After re-reading the manga a second time, I am glad that I noticed that Tsubaki didn't really change herself for a guy, much like other heroines tend to do. Although certain attitudes and viewpoints change because of falling it love, the decisions that she makes in the manga are things that she wants to do, not because she was forced into it. Kyouta, on the other hand, also made me mad because I thought that he had the stupidest reason for ....well, you'll see when you get there. (Possible spoiler?) So glad that he's a very committed boyfriend that didn't "waver" or anything of the sort, even with his playboy past. Luckily, both of these characters (in my opinion) undergo some really good character development as the story progresses, both in terms of how they treat each other and the people around them. They learn to be more honest and open with their feelings, and I like that both of them had career goals for the future that may or may not have included the other person. Don't get me wrong, they still create really avoidable misunderstandings, but probably as frequently as you would see in the average couple. If I were to rate these characters for the latter half of the story, I probably would have given an 8 or a 9, but I have to take into consideration their actions in the beginning of the manga too. Enjoyment (9) Despite its cliches, flaws, and stupid moments, I enjoyed this manga a lot. Would I read it again? Yeah, but I'd probably skip over the chapters that I didn't like or the scenes that I felt were unnecessary - there are enough cute scenes in this manga to keep me busy haha. Overall (8) Even if my entire review sounds like I'm praising this manga, I don't want to mislead anyone by making it sound better than it really is. It isn't for everyone, and while I am usually a picky reader (almost dropped this one), I feel that everyone should give this a try because the ending is definitely worth it.

I can understand where everyone is coming from when they write a review about this manga. I wouldn't call it terrible, it's just tasteless. The art was good and the story was decent, but what got me was the characters. I wasn't too impressed to be honest. The characters kind of annoyed me. Every single character in this manga, especially the heroine. I think that is what everyone can agree on. The story would've been been better if the characters were better. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this story is the worst manga ever made in history (To some people it might be).I'm just saying that it could've been better. Either way, I still found it enjoyable to read to kill time. There are better mangas than this, but then again, this manga is a lot better than others too. So instead of saying the "worst" or the "best", let's leave it at "decently good".

I read this a couple of months ago(it should be noted that i read all chapters in a day, It's addicting), and since then I have found myself rereading it more than once, even if it was just some of the chapters. While I understand what people are saying when they give this a 2/10, because yes, in some ways it deserves that, the fact that I've even reread this I think says that its pretty damn enjoyable. The story is simple: A studyworm meets a popular badboy and they fall in love, with a lot melodrama happening all over the place. I personally love melodrama,but it is of course not for everyone. The relationship between Tsubaki and Kyota is developed very well and honestly the ACTUAL romance in this manga is some of the best I've seen. It's great, cute, sad at some parts and just overall amazing. You can see that they genuinly love each other and that its true love for them. And it's as realistic as a shojo can get. There were some things that really made frustated though: 1. There was pretty much no development on the sidecharacters. There was also almost no appearances for them. Sure, Sakura got a bit more mature but thats only natural since this takes place over 3 years. Also Tsubakis best friend(forgot her name), she was always just kinda 'there'. Especially in comparison to characters like the-hairdresser-dude(forgot his name too), and random-love-rival-that-loves-astronomi(and hers) towards the end. It could have been a lot better if they had an bigger impact. 2. (Spoilers ahead:) Something that i always found weird and pretty unrealistic is that Tsubaki gets almost-raped 2 times. Even weirder is that both times, she just brushes it off like its nothing and even becomes friends with one of the guys that molested her. A while ago i found out that its the same mangaka that made honey x honey drops where the main character gets raped multiple times. I guess she has a thing for that. The characters are pretty good. Some of them are horrible though and others are just kinda funny sometimes, because they do something that would have been OOC but NOPE! I dont know, the characters alright I guess. It works with the story so I don't really have anything to complain about(unless you saw point 2 about Tsubaki acting like nothing happened) A lot of people are complimenting the art, but honestly, I really hated the way it was drawn. I loved the quality of it however and i could see there went a lot of work into it, but the style in itself i didn't like very much. Overall, I loved it. Even with all its faults, I enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it, though it's not for everyone. I think the amount of negative reviews says that much. If you wanna read something funny and romantic and are okay with something that is definantly not a 10/10 but would rather focus on enjoyment and put analysis to the side for later, then i definantly recomend Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu for you.

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu is a shojo manga through and through. There were some parts of it that were really good, and some that were kinda bad. Overall, though, this is a good manga that is worth the read if you are into typical shojo mangas. The story for this manga is plain and simple. It being a traditional high school love story, you get what you anticipate with this one. It can be extremely predictable at times, but realistically, you don't usually read a shojo to be surprised. The story had a good flow and ends well, without leaving any loose ends, like some mangaand anime often do. The art is great. The characters are drawn well and the hair is beautifully rendered (which means something in a manga with a plot point around hair and hair styling). The characters are probably my biggest love/hate part of this story. Hibino has an interesting personality, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. And Kyouta has an odd personality, which also isn't a bad thing. But together, they doubt one another and pointlessly feel certain ways that are completely geared to cause story drama. It can feel repetitive and cause you to care less for both of them at a certain point because it seems like they never learn from their previous mistakes. They are not terrible characters, but with that drama being a huge part of the story arcs, it can make them less enjoyable. Overall, I did enjoy this manga, regardless of the character flaws. I don't think I would ever read this manga again (mostly due to the length) but I would recommend it to someone who loves drama filled shojo manga with cute main characters.