I suppose 23 volumes is a bit long to drag out Mizuki’s secret, but I never got bored with the series, partly because I loved all the supporting characters, so the side plots about them kept me interested and entertained rather than just waiting impatiently to see when Mizuki’s secret was going to be exposed. I do love Sano and Mizuki, but as a BL fangirl, I have to admit that I bought the series partly for the gay school doctor Umeda, who is such an awesome character that I really wish he could have had a series of his own. (I love his wry, cynical sense of humor.) I liked his unwanted love interest Akiha as well, and as starsamaria said above, I enjoyed the way that Nakatsu struggled with his feelings for Mizuki and the way he ultimately decided that he loved Mizuki and it didn’t matter if she was a boy or a girl.

As for Hana-Kimi, I’ve read the entire series, and while it was cute and fun at first it became a bit tiresome to see Mizuki keep a secret Sano already knew about – it just dragged a little bit too long. I love seeing Nakatsu struggle with his feelings for her, though, especially since he decides he doesn’t care if liking Mizuki makes him ‘gay.’

I think I was a part of the target demographic when Hana-Kimi first came out, but I don’t remember it sticking to me even then. I could see where it might get repetitive. I actually thought the Taiwanese drama was pretty funny, but eventually you do tire of “How long can she hide her secret (even though everyone knows)!?”

I liked that Viz asked about the 3-in-1′s, but I don’t know if that included the VIZBIG format. I notice the newer 3-in-1′s seem to stop about 9 volumes into a series, and you’re left collecting the rest individually. I still appreciate them, but I prefer the VIZBIG trim size and doing that for the entire series. I was really surprised at how many comments were asking for old school shoujo like Basara, PSME, and Banana Fish, so I hope VIZ was listening!

The final volume recently appeared in Chinese. While I am curious about this title, I think about all of the stuff I have piling up to read, and I realize that it will be a long time, if ever, before I try this. Strangely, I haven’t read any manga in the past year (though I have read plenty of manhwa and manhua), but when I do get back to reading stuff from Japan, I think Fullmetal Alchemist and One Piece will be at the top of my priority list (I tried them a long time ago, didn’t get sucked in, but I often need to try a story a few times before I get hooked).

Re: Hana Kimi

Yeah, there are some pretty good sections, but I have to pretty much agree with Michelle’s assessment – definitely not a keeper. And for the record, I think I might have still been a teenager when I read it, and I did not lap it up with a spoon. On the other hand, the Taiwanese drama based on Hana-Kimi is pretty good. What makes the drama work so well, in my opinion, is the casting – I particularly like the way Mizuki and Xiuyi (I am too lazy to look up his Japanese name) performed. While I don’t think I’d ever want to read the manga ever again, I just might want to see the drama a second time. Too bad that, as far as I know, there is no legal way to see the drama with English subtitles.

Re: Viz releasing shojo ombnibuses

YES TO BASARA, BANANA FISH, BOKU-TAMA!