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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

May 6, 2013 by MJ, Michelle Smith, Sean Gaffney and Anna N Leave a Comment

Pick of the Week: Dancing to the Shojo Beat

potw5-6-13MJ: This week’s pick is an extremely tough one for me, particularly when faced with choosing between beloved series like Wandering Son, Strobe Edge, and even Bakuman,which is heading into its last couple of volumes. But in the end, I’m going to go with an end—that of Yuuki Obata’s melancholy romance, We Were There, which has charmed me all the way from its very first volume, through its soul-crushing volume four, and so on and so forth, to the last, sweet moments here in its final volume. This series has been an especially emotional ride for me—I’d recommend it to anyone—and its ending is extremely well-earned. It’s an obvious pick for me, I suppose, but for very good reasons.

MICHELLE: And it’s my pick, as well. “Well-earned” is right, and I could go into detail about why it’s more satisfying than your average shoujo conclusion, but that would probably be rather spoilery. Instead, you should see for yourself!

SEAN: I’ll go with the new volume of Dengeki Daisy, a shoujo manga with the plot of an action movie. It’s rather impressive how even the people normally creeped out by older guy/high school girl romance don’t seem to mind it in Dengeki Daisy – both in the story itself and in the readers. Perhaps because of the comedy that comes with it, or the way that Teru isn’t being tricked, seduced, or blackmailed into it. But probably mostly due to the writing – a lot can be forgiven in a romance if both leads are simply great people you want to see get together. Well, right after they solve this kidnapping. Yes, another one.

ANNA: Since other people have picked We Were There and Dengeki Daisy, I’ll go with Strobe Edge. The fourth volume has come a long way in terms of plot development and art. Even though some of the plot elements are a bit stereotypical, there’s plenty of emotional resonance in the developing love triangle.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

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Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK Tagged With: Dengeki Daisy, shojo beat, Strobe Edge, we were there

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