Peach Girl

So.. Peach Girl's story is good, between good and very good. The good side in Peach Girl is the Momo's skin, very original for start, and the characters are good too. For art, is different for me, but is good and sometimes realist! ^^. The bad side is Momo... she's so dramaqueen... so much... and Touji believes so much, and the story sometimes is foreseeable. But, Peach Girl is very funny and your heart sometimes beat! ^-^ ( if don't is the SUPERDRAMASQUEENS SCENES from momo, seriously, sometimes you think: '' i hating this anime and i'll stop watching!'')

I've been slowly reading more shojo manga and Peach Girl was a title I've heard about for years because of its popularity. I can see why it was popular, but holy manga gods was this a frustrating read. First off, this manga is manipulative. The characters in it are manipulative and the author is trying to manipulate the audience as much as possible. It was so frustrating reading the first few chapters because of how obvious the characters were about creating plot and tension that I hate read the first three or so volumes. Characters: There is definitely a problem with characters. What this manga does really wellis that it shows the emotions of the leading characters in ways that are relatable, but it's pulled off in a sloppy way. Momo, the main character that has a complex about her skin tone, goes through a lot of pain and suffering and throughout the series she doesn't learn from any of it. The side characters are incredibly wishy washy. They are the ideal mob mentality where they'll hate Momo or they'll love her and they're not afraid to switch on a dime. They have no personal thoughts. When side characters befriend Momo and they're her friends for the rest of the manga we hardly get to know them. The series is so focused on the core four characters that everything and everyone outside of their emotional lives is irrelevant. Then there's Sae. God, I hated her with the passion of a thousand burning suns. You could tell that Sae was nothing but a plot device for a good chunk of the manga and what she did was beyond horrendous. She was evil incarnate. It wasn't until the last few volumes where I started to feel any sympathy towards her and that was only because her character did a 180. The character development isn't good. It's very basic and if a character changes too much there isn't much explanation. Take Sae, when she falls in love for the first time she's a new character. There is no transition, it's just boom, there she is now. Peach Girl has a bad habit of bringing up adult and serious situations only for it to mean nothing. I can't even tell you how often this manga brings in attempted rape. Actually, I will tell you. There are at least 4 major events where Momo or Sae are about to be raped and it's so gross how the manga handles it as if it were nothing. The first time there were repercussions. Momo was traumatized. Every time after that this situation was used to build tension and have one of the potential boyfriends come rescue them. I don't know what Japanese High School life was back when this came out, but there are so many uncomfortable situations of characters that are between 15 and 17 being sexually assaulted, or dating men in their 20s, or doing porn, or something else that you wouldn't expect to find in a shojo romance. The part that frustrates me so much about this manga is that no matter how much I complain about it, it's effective. This manga is super manipulative, but I kept with it. Whether I was enjoying myself or hate reading it out of spite I was continuing with these characters that on the surface I like. However, for every time I'm enjoying the manga there are at least three instances that make me facepalm, like the two male love interests literally pulling on Momo's arms as if she's a toy in their toddler years arguing over who loves her more. I'm glad I read this, but it did not age like fine wine. I think I have a better grasp of Shojo, but I would not recommend this to anyone. Story: 4/10 Art: 5/10 Character: 4/10 Enjoyment: 4/10 Overall: 4/10

My reviews are horrible, so don't hold anything to me. I just want to point out my final thoughts on a manga when I review it. This was a good story, had good art, and decent characters. But while I rate it high, I really didn't enjoy it too much. But that's because it's pretty dramatic the entire time, and when things are depressing, I feel depressed too. And the depressing portions of the story really outweigh the light-hearted moments. Though overall, based on the ending, you can call this Manga a Happy story. At least in the same way that theLittle Mermaid is a happy story, lol. It ends in a somewhat depressing manner, but still leaves you feeling happily satisfied, because not all is bad. So have fun reading this. I finished it in 2 days, but since I spent so much time on it, it felt like it would never end, lol. I'm glad it's over, cause now I can move on to other manga. I give this Great overall rating. And I would recommend to people who enjoy good drama.