Hatsukoi Canvas

::STORY:: The premise was so unrealistic it was laughable, yet the idea was original. I completely believe a preschooler might believe their art was cursed. What I don't believe is a high school girl still torn up about this, or the exaggerated hatred her art received. Still, I liked the art class setting if for no other reason than, that it reminded me of good memories of my former art class. It surprised me when the story focused on others than Kagawa, which was a blessing in disguise. ::ROMANCE:: The romance is corny. Haru comes off as a knight in shining armor to the point Kagawa seemsdependent without him. I usually like knights in shining armor, but this one felt forced. He seemed to have a weird tic about touching girls too. None of the romance (main or sub-plots) got resolved, but that's okay I wouldn't seriously expect that in a slice-of-life type series. ::CHARACTERS::: Kagawa is very simple minded and ostracized. She has no inkling of what love is, or why her heart goes doki doki. Her oblivious to love mindset is either very endearing or grating. It was the latter for me, but others might like her innocence. Kagawa's also a dramatic crybaby, but that definitely stems from her low self-esteem. The lecherous sensei-uncle was a bit of a letdown. He came out the gate ogling a highschooler. I mean there's no harm in flirting, but seriously "wanting" a girl like Kagawa seemed too weird. When it comes to teacher-students relationships in shoujo, it can't come off as icky. For the most part, this was just a tease and nothing serious came from it. The art snobs, Hotaru and Yukinojou, were funny, but no eleven year looks that good! Lies, I say! Those two were my favorite characters. ::ART:: It's a hit or miss often with the proportions. I find the necks on males too elongated in certain panels. I know the author wanted Kagawa to have the doe-like look, but her expression (especially the eyes) looked devoid of all emotion. The close ups of her eyes seemed empty/hollow. However, some of this may be my own personal art preference. The artwork is modern and the lines are smooth, which is always a good quality. Nothing new for character design, as they all have a standard shoujo look, but the artwork does improves toward the end. ::Overall:: I guess it's worth a read. It's short enough to not consume too much of your time, but it plays on a lot if cliches most have already seen. It teeters between nothing special but not bad either. In short: Hastsukoi Canvas is enough to keep your attention but not dazzle it.