Issho ni Neyou yo

This may seem like an unnecessarily harsh rating for this series, but I was very disappointed. Story: 4 This seems like the best place to tackle my issues. The writing style is extremely haphazard. Even if I take translation errors into account, there just aren't enough dialog or thought boxes to make up for the lack of explanations. If a manga is comparable to a storyboard, this one would be sent back for rework. The gaps between frames are difficult to interpret, and I found myself helplessly scrolling through multiple chapters, grasping for concrete actions. The conclusion of the series follows inthis same vein, wrapping up with repetitive conversations between characters and then vaguely answering the main question. Art: 6 Certain frames showed noticeably disproportionate features on characters, but overall it's suitable to shoujo. It's also a little light-handed for my taste. Character: 4 The author overstretched herself on this count. She introduces a house of around six people, each with a seemingly distinct personality, but Kohaku is really the only one who gets any character development. The other housemates only show up in flashbacks briefly (if at all) as they overlap with Kohaku's story. Furthermore, the premise of the manga is resolved within the first few chapters, which makes the story description misleading. It's less about the unimpressive female lead and more about the very bizarre male lead. Enjoyment: 5 I read it and I laughed a couple of times, but I was generally bored due to the lack of character development and disjointed storytelling style. Overall: 4 Again, this rating may land on the harsh side, but I feel the need to counteract the overwhelmingly positive vibe coming from other reviews.

When I first read a summary about this manga it piqued my curiosity and I began to read it. Story: 8 Ichiko did something terrible and ran away from home only to be found by a masked stranger and taken to his home where she is offered to live if she does the work of a maid. Each of those living within this household alll have their reasons for doing so, none moreso than Kohaku, the masked stranger. The story seems fairly normal, if a bit dramatic in regards to Ichiko's reason for fleeing from her home. There is a nice build up and you are lead tobe curious about why Kohaku wears a mask. I will warn you that you will not his his face till almost the very end of the manga, but the scene where he reveals his face is a powerful one. Art: 9 The artwork is fine, though I personally did not care much for Ichkio's hair style, but that is simply personal taste. The eyes are not drawn successfully in a few 'close up' frames making them appear almost hollow while a character's facial expression shows one of joy, giving a weird creepiness when these close ups occur. That being said there aren't too many of these and after a while they aren't nearly as distracting as you progress through the manga. Character: 10 I love all the characters in this manga! While many of the support characters don't have their backgrounds explained, they are still wonderfully developed characters with an important background role to the main characters. Kohaku's personality is incredibly complicated but this is only ever explain through the support characters. Enjoyment: 9 This is a manga where I would read it again (and there are only a few that make me do this). I was never bored with a single chapter or volume as there aren't too many 'filler' moments.

First of all, Issho ni Neyou yo gets big points for originality. I can honestly say I've never come across a protagonist with a problem like Usami Ichiko's. It's pretty bizarre, but also pretty interesting. And, certainly, the same could be said of Kohaku's entire character. That said, while reading this, I spent a lot of time sitting there with a giant question mark over my head. There were times when I had a hard time catching on to the tone of the scenes I was reading, understanding what was happening in the plot, and (a big pet peeve of mine)knowing who was speaking. Needless to say, it was pretty frustrating. I'm not sure if it's because I got ahold of a bad translation, if I'm accustomed to a less subtle style of storytelling, or if the characters are just so strange that they're supposed to confuse the reader. Maybe all of the above. From what I understand, the mangaka had to go on hiatus while it was still being published, so that might also have something to do with the oddly disjointed story progression. Despite the confusion, though, I still enjoyed it... for reasons that I still can't entirely pin down. The characters are very endearing and unique, for sure, and there are a lot of very funny and touching moments. I'm a sucker for toddlers and eccentric people, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. The art is lovely, if a bit odd at times. Considering how short it is, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for something a little different.

Story 8: The story was rather unique. I honestly have never really read a story quite like this but it isn't uncommon for a character to be picked up by a house (though it is more often a boarding house). I felt the plot was somewhat slow moving and that some of the information was forced in and there was a particular event involving Kohaku and the school (no spoiler- you'll either agree or disagree if you read it yourself) that I felt was thrown in to be some type of character growth but I felt like that flopped as well. Otherwise the way thesupernatural aspect was incorporated (not too strong, not to mild) and the psychological scare the characters all faced made the story very interesting and binge worthy. I really wanted to learn about Kohaku, why he acted the way he did, and how he would grow. Art 10: Not much to say because this is just my biased opinion of loving the art- specifically the way they draw eyes. Everything was in order and there was none of the dreaded same face syndrome. I think the are is very distinguishable to being from this artist as well, wouldn't confuse it with any other mangaka (that I know of). Character 8: There was a diverse cast of characters and I loved the way they interacted with each other. The biggest problem would be that mainly Ichiko and Kohaku were the ones that had character building and the other characters only got background if it was somehow associated with Kohaku. HOWEVER, I would argue that this manga's focus was on Kohaku and Ichiko so there wasn't a need to do a deep dive into the other characters as much and that there personalities played a big role in accenting our main characters and moving the plot forward. Enjoyment 9: An easy binge and I read it over and over. Plot was a bit slow like I said before but I loved watching our characters interact with each other! I recommend just binging through all 35 chapters! Enjoy! Overall 9!